Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to reduce the drop out rate of neuro-divergent apprentices.

Apprenticeships offer great opportunities for people of all backgrounds to get the skills that they need to begin, or progress in, a rewarding career. The department recognise that apprenticeship achievement brings huge advantages in terms of future earnings and employment prospects, and we are committed to supporting more learners who have declared a learning difficulty or disability (LDD) to start and achieve apprenticeships.

The department is working with the Apprenticeship Diversity Champions Network to explore the barriers that disabled apprentices face in accessing and achieving apprenticeships. The Network published its latest annual report in February 2023, which contains useful information for employers to help them better support apprentices with LDD and can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1135471/ADCN_Annual_Report_2022_to_2023.pdf.

In addition, our Disabled Apprentice Network, in partnership with Disability Rights UK, provides valuable insight and evidence on how to attract and retain people with disabilities into apprenticeships. The Network’s latest annual report considers what works well for disabled apprentices based on their experiences and will help government, employers and training providers to improve how apprenticeships are delivered. The department has also improved it’s Find an Apprenticeship service, to allow people to identify Disability Confident Employers offering opportunities.

In addition, the department continue to pay employers and providers £1,000 when they take on apprentices under 25 years old with an education, health and care plan, and provide monthly financial support to providers to help them make reasonable adjustments for eligible apprentices with LDD.

The department is also taking a broader range of actions to drive up apprenticeship quality and achievements for all apprentices, including neuro-divergent apprentices.

We are supporting employers through our Employer Quality Roadmap which provides guidance on what employers need to be doing at each stage of the apprenticeship, and Ofsted will be fully inspecting all apprenticeship providers by 2025. A new exit feedback tool has also been launched for apprentices who have withdrawn, alongside a new feedback tool for existing apprentices to provide feedback on their training provider. The department will use this feedback to inform further improvements.