Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect of his Department's reform of apprenticeship on progress on meeting the Government's target of three million new apprenticeships by the end of the 2017 Parliament.

Our apprenticeship reforms will give employers and apprentices the skills they need to grow and progress in the long term.

Our reforms are making apprenticeships higher quality, at all levels, with a minimum duration of one year and 20 per cent off-the job training, and with a proper end point assessment. The 20 per cent off the job training rule, the shift to higher quality standards with a longer average duration, and the drop off in use of frameworks, have already contributed to a 20 per cent rise in expected apprenticeship training hours over the past year. Nearly 37 per cent of starts are now on the new, employer-designed apprenticeship standards, compared to just 3 per cent in the same period last year. More information on the progress of our reforms can be found at the link below: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/707896/Progress_report_on_the_Apprenticeships_Reform_Programme_May_2018.pdf.