Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Baroness Evans of Bowes Park on 7 June (HL Deb, col 656), of the 499,900 apprenticeship starts as published in government statistics for 2014–15, what percentage met the definition of an apprenticeship of (1) being a job in a skilled occupation, (2) having substantial and sustained training lasting a minimum of 12 months, (3) leading to full competency in an occupation, and (4) developing transferable skills.

The Skills Funding Agency 2014 to 2015 funding rules set out the eligibility requirements for apprenticeships started in 2014/15. These include points (1) to (4).

Only apprenticeships which adhere to this definition of an apprenticeship are recognised within these published statistics. On point (2), the statistics also include apprenticeships with an agreed planned duration of less than 12 months in exceptional circumstances, for example, for apprentices with prior qualifications that cover part of their framework.