Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the importance of transparency on setting and lowering funding bands for degree apprenticeships.

As part of its agreed responsibilities, the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education recommends and reviews funding bands to make sure that employers can access high quality apprenticeships, and that funding bands represent good value for money for employers and the government.

The Institute has highlighted its intention to improve transparency in its approach towards pricing all apprenticeships and will work with trailblazer groups of employers to test improvements. Details can be found in their Business Plan 2019-2020, available here: https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/about/business-plan-2019-2020/.

The government’s strategic guidance to the Institute asks it to go further in improving understanding of its work and being responsive to employers’ feedback regarding the funding band process for all apprenticeships, including Level 6+ and degree apprenticeships. The strategic guidance is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/790021/Strategic_Guidance_to_the_Institute_2019-20.pdf.