Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to increase the number of apprentices undertaking apprenticeships at level 3 or above.

We are implementing employer led apprenticeship reforms to continue to improve the quality of apprenticeships for all and to reach our commitment of 3 million apprenticeship starts in England by 2020.

Supported by the Institute for Apprenticeships, employers are designing new high quality apprenticeship standards to ensure apprenticeships are more responsive to their needs.

By 2020 there will be one new standard for each occupation identified by employers as requiring an apprenticeship, standards currently available range from levels 2 to 7: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/apprenticeship-standards.

The availability of apprenticeships at level 3 or above will be determined by employer groups choosing to develop new standards and employers choosing to offer apprenticeship opportunities.