Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what definition of the workforce will be used for the purposes of deciding the percentage of apprentices to be engaged by a school under apprenticeship levy proposals.

The Government is committed to raising the quality and quantity of apprenticeships and achieving 3 million apprenticeship starts by 2020. This includes all aspects of the public sector, from policy makers to frontline services.

Following the consultation on setting apprenticeship targets for public bodies, and wider engagement with representatives from across the public sector, the Government is intending to publish its response to the consultation shortly. That document will detail what definition of the workforce within schools and other public sector bodies will be used when setting the target.

When considering which employers, including schools, will make payments towards the apprenticeship levy we do not base this assessment on the number of staff but rather on those employers with a pay bill of more than £3 million.