Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure more employers offer apprenticeships to 16 to 18 year-olds.

We are building on the success of the Apprenticeship Grant for Employers by providing an additional £170m over the next two years. This additional support will fund over 100,000 incentive payments of £1,500 to employers. Grants will be targeted where they will be most effective.

Apprenticeship reforms are putting employers in the driving seat of designing world-class standards for apprenticeships, making it easier for them to offer more Apprenticeships in the future.