Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of the creation of a UCAS-style portal for apprenticeships.

We want to make the system easier to navigate for young people considering technical and vocational routes, as we committed to in the government's manifesto. We are still considering the feasibility of a centralised portal for further education. We have conducted extensive research with over 2,000 young people, colleges and career advisers. We will make final decisions on this in the context of our reforms to apprenticeships and the introduction of T levels.

We have already introduced functionality that allows levy-paying employers to advertise their own vacancies on the apprenticeship service. The Find an Apprenticeship website is accessed by thousands of would-be apprentices, their teachers and parents. Employers that do not pay the levy can continue to advertise their vacancies by contacting the national contact centre or working with their training provider. We will continue to develop this in future, informed by our engagement with employers and their feedback on the service.

​The National Apprenticeship Service and UCAS have developed a higher and degree apprenticeships ‘vacancy finder’ to consolidate many of these opportunities into one place. In November, we published thousands of vacancies from various employers starting in 2019.