Apprentices: Technology

(asked on 16th June 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to secure to the co-operation of small and large technology organisations to facilitate opportunities for apprenticeships in that sector.


Answered by
Baroness Barran Portrait
Baroness Barran
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This question was answered on 29th June 2022

The department continues to work in partnership with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport and support their newly launched strategy to make the digital economy more inclusive, competitive, and innovative by supporting the growth of Digital, Cyber, and Artificial Intelligence strategies.

The department recognises the important role that small and medium sized employers (SMEs) play in creating apprenticeship opportunities, particularly for younger people and those in disadvantaged areas. On 1 June, we reset the reservation levels for all employers who do not pay the levy to zero. This means that employers will be able to make up to 10 new reservations to fund new starts.

Furthermore, we have just published a tender calling for suppliers to engage with SMEs, to encourage more apprenticeship starts. We are using this SME Pathfinder to improve opportunities for individuals and productivity for SMEs in sectors and areas of the country where these are needed most.

Employers in the digital sector have developed 26 high-quality apprenticeships standards including: level 3 Data Technician, level 4 Software Developer and level 7 Artificial Intelligence Data Specialist.

In the 2020/21 academic year there were 14,760 apprenticeship starts in the Digital sector subject area, with a further 10,130 starts so far in the second quarter of the 2021/22 academic year.

The department is also encouraging all employers to offer more flexible training models. There are two flexi-job apprenticeship agencies supporting the digital sector, ensuring apprentices are ready to work on-site and can benefit from the high-quality long-term training that an apprenticeship provides.

We continue to make improvements to the apprenticeship levy transfer system to make it easier for large employers to make full use of their levy funds and support more employers, including SMEs, to take on new apprentices in the technology sectors.

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