Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to increase the number of degree apprenticeships available in the Telford constituency.

The government has created a £10 million Degree Apprenticeship Development Fund to support the development and take up of degree apprenticeships across England. Harper Adams University is the closest university to Telford to receive money from this fund - followed by Staffordshire University, University of Keele, Birmingham City University and Aston University.

Degree level apprenticeships have grown year on year with over 6,600 starts since their introduction, including over 4,000 starts this academic year (2017/18) with over 100 higher education institutions registered to deliver apprenticeships, including several in the West Midlands. In Telford constituency there were 1,300 apprenticeship starts across all levels. Of these, 90 were higher level apprenticeships, which includes degree-level starts. The National Apprenticeship Service and UCAS have created a degree apprenticeship vacancy listing to highlight opportunities available across all areas of the country - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-and-degree-apprenticeship-vacancies.