Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many further education students undertook further education apprenticeships in each of the last ten years; and what the average cost to the public purse was per student in each of those years.

Further education (FE) colleges are a critical component of the apprenticeships system in England, delivering high quality training to apprentices across a wide range of occupations.

The table below shows the volume of apprentice learners participating in apprenticeship training in FE colleges for each of the last 10 academic years. It also sets out the average cost per apprentice learner at colleges.

Average costs are rounded to the nearest £10 and participation volumes to the nearest 100.

The fall in apprentices undertaking training in FE colleges since 2016/17 reflects an overall decrease in apprenticeship starts, the removal of often low-quality apprenticeship frameworks and the increase in Independent Training Providers and Higher Education Institutions delivering apprenticeships training.

The average cost per apprentice is calculated based on learners at college who undertook apprenticeship training for at least one month or more during the academic year. These cover all training and assessment costs for the learner, including additional payments provided to the employer and/or provider, such as for additional learning support. These costs do not include payments for the COVID-19 employer incentive scheme which ran from August 2020 to January 2022

The increase in cost per apprentice learner at FE colleges is the result of our reforms to improve the quality of apprenticeships. This includes the introduction of more than 650 new apprenticeship standards designed by employers, the introduction of rigorous and independent end-point assessment, and the requirement that apprentices spend at least 20% of their time in off-the-job training.