Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to encourage young people to undertake a foundation apprenticeship on leaving school.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Apprenticeships offer brilliant opportunities for school leavers, with over 690 high-quality apprenticeship standards available across all sectors of the economy and at all levels, including 368 standards at levels 2 and 3. The department has a range of work underway to promote and support young people into apprenticeships, and it is encouraging to see that starts by under-19s so far this academic year have increased by 6% on the same period last year.
Students can now see apprenticeship vacancies on their UCAS Hub, and our Career Starter Apprenticeships campaign is promoting apprenticeships at levels 2 and 3 which offer great opportunities for those looking for their first role after leaving full-time education. The department also continues to invest around £3.2 million annually in the Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge programme which ensures students are aware of the benefits of apprenticeships, with over 620,000 student interactions across 2,300 schools and further education colleges in the 2022/23 academic year.
In addition, the department continues to pay £1,000 to employers and providers when they take on apprentices aged 16-18, and the care leavers bursary has tripled to £3,000 to help even more young people to access and complete apprenticeships.
Asked by: Baroness Blower (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the average training cost of an (1) intermediate, (2) advanced, and (3) higher level, apprenticeship.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The table below shows the average cost of all apprentices who participated in learning across the 2022/23 academic year by level. This includes those who remain on programme, those who withdrew across the year, and those who completed their apprenticeship. Apprenticeships have a minimum 12-month duration and can last for a number of years. These figures cover all costs associated with these apprentices, including costs incurred in previous years and those incurred within the 2022/23 academic year. These figures include payments for apprenticeship training and assessment, as well as additional payments made to employers, providers, and apprentices, including for English and maths.
Level of Apprenticeship | Average Cost* |
2 | £4,600 |
3 | £6,000 |
4 | £5,600 |
5 | £5,000 |
6 | £10,800 |
7 | £9,000 |
*Numbers rounded to the nearest 100
Each apprenticeship standard has its own funding band, which denotes the maximum amount that the government will fund for training and assessment. The total cost of an apprenticeship will therefore vary by standard, duration, and eligibility for additional payments. Existing standards can have their funding bands reviewed, or be withdrawn for new starts, while new standards can be introduced. These figures are therefore a snapshot in time, subject to change in future and cannot be used to extrapolate future costs of apprenticeships.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2024 to Question 11344 on Apprentices, for what reasons were there no apprenticeship starts in the two lowest funding bands in the 2022-23 academic year.
Answered by Robert Halfon
There are no apprenticeship standards that have funding bands of £1,500 and £2,000.
Asked by: Baroness Garden of Frognal (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage small businesses to engage in apprenticeship programmes aimed at delivering a skilled pipeline of electrical contractors into the workforce.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Apprenticeships provide a fantastic opportunity for people to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to progress into electrical occupations, and the department is increasing investment in apprenticeships to £2.7 billion by 2024/25 to support employers of all sizes to grow their apprenticeships workforce.
The department’s employer-designed apprenticeship standards ensure that apprentices are gaining relevant industry experience to progress in over 690 different occupations, including in electrical occupations such as Level 3 domestic electrician, Level 4 building energy management systems controls engineer and Level 6 electro-mechanical engineer.
The department has made it easier for smaller employers to recruit the next generation of talent removing the limit on the number of apprentices they can take on and cutting by a third the number of steps needed to register to take on an apprentice. The department continues to fund 95% of the cost of apprenticeships in small employers who do not pay the levy and meet 100% of the cost for the smallest employers (fewer than 50 staff) when they take on eligible young apprentices. The levy transfer system has also been simplified so smaller employers can more easily benefit from transferred funds.
Written Evidence Dec. 13 2023
Inquiry: UK RegulatorsFound: Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009, Parliament created Ofqual to: a)secure standards
Feb. 08 2024
Source Page: Experiences and Perceived Impacts of Apprenticeship Minimum WageFound: Apprenticeship standards were introduced in 2017, alongside the levy, having been agreed in 2015 (Pullen
May. 02 2024
Source Page: FOI responses published by MOD: week commencing 29 April 2024Found: KB, 2 pages MOD Police information on Data Protection Officer training and qualifications standards
Correspondence May. 24 2024
Committee: Culture, Media and Sport Committee (Department: Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport)Found: Both of these programmes have now completed and a total of 57 apprentices were supported through them
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to increase access to electrical appliance repair and reuse skills training.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
This government is committed to delivering a world-leading skills system which is employer-focused, high-quality, and fit for the future.
The government is investing £3.8 billion more in further education and skills over this Parliament to ensure people can access high-quality training and education that addresses skills gaps and boosts productivity. The department are working with industry to shape our training offers, creating more routes into skilled employment in key sectors, including green jobs.
The department’s high-quality employer-designed apprenticeships, including the Level 3 Digital Device Repair Technician standard, also continue to support employers and apprentices to develop the skills needed in the green economy.
Employer-led standards have shaped the design of T Levels, which are new level 3 qualifications for 16 to 19 year olds that reflect modern industrial practice and include a 45 day industry placement. Engineering and Manufacturing T Levels in Maintenance, Installation and Repair were introduced in 2022, where students can choose to specialise in electrical and electronics.
The department’s reforms are strengthening higher and further education to help more people get good jobs and upskill and retrain throughout their lives and to improve national productivity.
The department is delivering reforms to increase uptake of high-quality higher technical education. Central to these reforms is the introduction of Higher Technical Qualifications (HTQs).
HTQs are new or existing Level 4 and 5 qualifications (such as Higher National Diploma’s, Foundation Degrees and Diploma HE) that have been approved by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education to indicate their alignment to employer-led occupational standards. These qualifications have been developed by awarding bodies in collaboration with employers and businesses so that students get the specific training, knowledge and skills required for their chosen career.
To date, 172 qualifications have been approved as HTQs across Digital, Construction and the Built Environment, Health & Science, Business and Administration, Education and Early Years, Engineering & Manufacturing and Legal, Finance and Accounting occupational routes, for first teach beginning between September 2022 and September 2024.
There are HTQs approved in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) related subjects, including Engineering and Manufacturing and Construction and the Built Environment that will help provide the skills needed for industries.
The department is investing up to £115 million of funding to help support the growth in higher technical provision across the country.
May. 02 2024
Source Page: FOI responses published by MOD: week commencing 29 April 2024Found: the following information: "I am enquiring to try and ascertain how many Royal Fleet Auxiliary, CIS Apprentices