Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps is she taking to increase the number of apprenticeship starts in her Department.

We remain committed to supporting the use of apprenticeships across all government departments to break down barriers to opportunity. This includes supporting the government's commitment to 2,000 digital apprenticeships through its TechTrack scheme by 2030 to improve digital skills and drive improvements and efficiency in public services.

Additionally, a new cross-government level 3 apprenticeship programme in Business Administration, the ‘Civil Service Career Launch Apprenticeship’, will see new apprentices kickstart their careers, across various departments, starting from January 2026.

The department also offers over 40 apprenticeship standards, from level 2 to level 7, as a development opportunity to all existing employees. Furthermore, most externally recruited entry grade vacancies are advertised as an apprenticeship. This ensures that we are also offering apprenticeships to external candidates, across most of our locations, as a route into the Civil Service.