Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what his Department's ring-fenced annual apprenticeship budget was for the 2019-20 academic year; how much of that budget was spent on training and assessment; and whether there was an underspend in that academic year.

The department’s ring-fenced apprenticeship budget is set to fund apprenticeships in England only. This budget is used to fund training for new apprenticeship starts in levy and non-levy paying employers and to cover the ongoing costs of apprentices already in training.

It is also used to cover the cost of end-point assessment and any additional payments made to employers and providers. This means that employers of all sizes, across England, can provide apprenticeship opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds.

In the 2020-21 financial year, funding available for investment in apprenticeships in England is almost £2.5 billion – double what was spent in 2010-11. Similarly, the ring-fenced apprenticeship budget for the 2019-20 financial year was almost £2.5 billion.

The total spend in the 2019-20 financial year, inclusive of spend on training and assessment, was £1.9 billion, leading to an underspend against the budget of approximately £600 million.

Details of actual spend against the apprenticeships budget are published in the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s annual report and accounts.