Apprenticeships in England: Next Steps

Thursday 14th March 2013 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Skills (Matthew Hancock)]

Today the Government have published “The Future of Apprenticeships in England: Next Steps from the Richard Review”, our response to Doug Richard’s independent “Review of Apprenticeships”. It sets out our long-term vision for apprenticeships, together with our proposals for achieving this.

The Richard “Review of Apprenticeships” was published in November 2012, and the report set out a compelling vision for the future of apprenticeships in England. Our response firmly agrees with the review’s assessment of the challenges and opportunities ahead, in particular to place employers at the heart of all aspects of apprenticeships and to ensure rigour, and endorses his vision and the key steps we will need to take to get there.

Apprenticeships are a success; the quantity has risen by a record amount, with half a million starts over the last year. We must ensure consistently good quality, too.

The reforms we are proposing are challenging and far-reaching. We want to work closely with employers, educators and others with an interest in apprenticeships, on how best to turn these principles into practice. That is why today we have launched a consultation to inform our next steps.

A copy of the response has been placed in the Libraries. The consultation will stay open until 22 May. We will carefully consider responses over the summer and will publish our detailed implementation plan in autumn 2013.