apprenticeships

A leading provider to major construction and utilities firms, Develop Training Limited (DTL), says too few businesses are making a commitment to apprenticeships despite government initiatives to promote them.

DTL, which has centres in Linlithgow near Edinburgh, Romford, York, Derby, Bolton, Swindon and Lisburn, Northern Ireland, highlighted the issue while giving its backing to National Apprenticeship Week 2019, which runs from 4 to 9 March.

In the run up to the week, the government launched a new promotional campaign, Blaze A Trail, to convince more individuals, families and employers to embrace apprenticeships. Previous initiatives have included Trailblazer Apprenticeships in England and the controversial Apprenticeship Levy.

Apprenticeship starts are falling because of the Apprenticeship Levy which needs to be made more flexible, according to the Federation of Master Builders (FMB).

The FMB’s reaction is in response to statistics published today by the Department for Education, which show that there has been a 24% fall in apprenticeship starts for the 2017/18 academic year compared with the previous academic year.

APHC has expressed doubts about the feasibility of plans for the development of vocational qualifications, following a speech made by Phil Beach CBE in collaboration with Ofqual last week. Speaking at the GovNet Skills and Employability Summit, Mr Beach discussed the development of vocational qualifications and assessments, suggesting how trust in them might be maintained in a period of reform.

Mr Beach begun his speech by detailing the many changes occurring in the vocational qualifications sector, in particular the Post-16 Skills Plan which has been designed to provide 16-19 year olds with valued routes into the workplace and the new trailblazer apprenticeship standards.