Mar. 27 2024
Source Page: The National Minimum Wage Beyond 2024Found: The gap is large by historical and international standards, is regarded as excessive and unfair by many
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of apprentices completed their endpoint assessment (a) on the date of, (b) one to three months after, (c) three to six months after and (d) more than six months after completing their apprenticeship in the 2021-22 academic year.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The below table shows achievers (rounded to the nearest 100) on apprenticeship standards in the 2021/22 academic year.
Months from last learning to end of EPA | Achievements | Proportion of total (%) |
EPA within a month of last learning | 12,000 | 10.5% |
EPA 1-3 months after last learning | 76,300 | 66.3% |
EPA 3-6 months after last learning | 18,200 | 15.8% |
EPA more than 6 months after last learning | 8,600 | 7.5% |
Total | 115,100 | 100% |
Apr. 23 2024
Source Page: I. Universal Credit guidance April 2024 [update of previous guidance, deposited Oct 2023, DEP2023-0791]. 204 docs. II. Letter dated 15/04/2023 from Jo Churchill MP to to the Deposited Papers Clerk regarding documents for deposit in the House libraries. Incl. file list at Annex 1. 9p.Found: calculator to help workers establish if the payment received from the ir emplo yer meets the mi nimum standards
Mentions:
1: Jonathan Gullis (Con - Stoke-on-Trent North) As a former teacher and the former Minister for School Standards, I cannot state enough how important - Speech Link
2: Robert Halfon (Con - Harlow) That is why we moved from frameworks to standards. - Speech Link
Asked by: Baroness O'Neill of Bexley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that Apprenticeship Levy funding is used in its entirety rather than being returned to His Majesty's Treasury.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The apprenticeship levy is an important part of the government’s reforms to create a high-quality, employer-led apprenticeships system, and it supports employers of all sizes to invest in high-quality apprenticeship training. The levy is enabling the department to increase investment in apprenticeships to £2.7 billion by 2024/25, encouraging more employers across the country to recruit new apprentices.
In the last two financial years, on average, 98% of the English apprenticeships budget was spent. Where large employers do not make full use of their levy funds, the department reinvests this money to support apprenticeships in small and medium-sized employers who do not pay the levy. It is therefore important that the apprenticeships budget remains ring-fenced to support the demand by employers for high-quality apprenticeship training.
To make it easier for employers to make full use of their levy contributions, the department has created flexible training models, such as flexi-job and accelerated apprenticeships, to make apprenticeships more accessible for employers. The department has also improved the transfer system to make it easier for levy paying employers to find other employers who wish to take on new apprentices with transferred funds.
The department has worked with employers to develop over 680 high-quality apprenticeship standards, and the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education will review the content of 100 apprenticeship standards in sectors like construction and healthcare by the end of December 2023, so they reflect the latest technological developments.
The department is also providing an additional £40 million over the next two years to support degree apprenticeship providers to expand and help more people access this provision, on top of its £8 million investment in 2022/23.
The department continues to promote apprenticeships to young people in schools and further education colleges across the country through its Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge programme, and UCAS are expanding its service to allowing students to search for and apply to apprenticeships alongside degrees.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of career opportunities for young people on apprenticeship schemes.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Apprenticeships provide a fantastic opportunity for people to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to progress in their chosen careers. Our employer-designed apprenticeship standards ensure that apprentices are gaining relevant industry experience in 680 different occupations.
We know apprenticeships continue to work for individuals up and down the country, with the latest data showing that 92% of apprentices go into work or further training, with 90% in sustained employment. Many apprentices remain with their employer following their apprenticeship.
Earnings for those undertaking higher apprenticeships compare well to the earnings of first-degree graduates five years on. Data shows that the median first-degree graduate earnings, five years after graduation were £28,200 compared to £30,900 for level 4 apprentices and £28,310 for level 5+ apprentices.
We want to see more young people benefitting from apprenticeships. We are increasing investment in apprenticeships to £2.7 billion by the 2024/25 financial year and continue to pay £1,000 to employers and providers when they hire young apprentices aged under 19, or 19-to-24-year-old apprentices who have an Education, Health and Care plan or have been in care. From 2024, young people will also be able to apply for apprenticeships through UCAS alongside an undergraduate degree application, and we are allocating an additional £40 million over the next two years to support the expansion of degree apprenticeships which offer high-quality higher education alternatives for school leavers.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the impact of the apprenticeship levy on the uptake of apprenticeships.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Since 2010, there have been over 5.5 million apprenticeship starts. During that time, the department has built a new skills system from the ground up which better meets the needs of employers and apprentices today.
The apprenticeship levy was introduced in 2017 to incentivise larger businesses to develop and invest in their own apprenticeship programmes whilst ensuring the availability of funding for smaller employers wanting to offer apprenticeships.
There have been over 2.2 million apprenticeship starts in employers of all sizes across England since the levy was introduced. There are now over 680 high quality standards available from entry level right through to masters level, with over 5,000 employers involved in their development. There is now a much broader range of apprenticeships than ever before in occupations such as architect, cyber security, and nursing, in addition to traditional occupations like bricklayer, plumber, or hairdresser.
More apprentices are now taking higher level subjects linked to higher paid jobs in key areas. Starts on higher apprenticeships at Level 4 and above have more than doubled, from 48,150 in the 2017/18 academic year to 106,360 in the 2021/22 academic year. The department has also seen year-on-year growth of degree level apprenticeships with almost 196,000 starts since their introduction in 2014. The department is providing an additional £40 million over the next two years to support degree apprenticeship providers to expand and help more people access them.
The apprenticeship levy has enabled the government to increase investment in the apprenticeships system in England, reaching £2.7 billion by the 2024/25 financial year. In the past two financial years, on average 98% of the English apprenticeship budget was spent showing strong demand by employers for high quality apprenticeships training. Large employers can use their levy contributions to fund apprenticeships in their own business, or they can transfer their funds to other businesses in their supply chain, sector or region. Funds that levy payers do not draw on are used to fund apprenticeship training in small and medium sized businesses which allows employers of all sizes to benefit from training apprentices.
Dec. 19 2023
Source Page: Building Standards Futures Board minutes: November 2023Found: Building Standards Futures Board minutes: November 2023
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will consider the potential merits of using the apprenticeship levy to fund training in skill shortages identified by the Migration Advisory Committee.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The government is supporting employers of all sizes and in all sectors, to use high-quality apprenticeships to build the skilled workforces they need, now and in the future.
Employers can access over 680 employer-designed apprenticeship standards, including in occupations which feature in the shortage occupation list, such as Level 2 Bricklayer, Level 3 Laboratory Technician, and Level 3 Lead Adult Care Worker.
The department is increasing investment in apprenticeships to £2.7 billion by the 2024/25 financial year and has removed the limit on the number of apprentices that small and medium-sized enterprises can recruit, supporting more employers of all sizes to grow their businesses with the skilled apprentices they need.
Employers can also continue to benefit from a range of other high-quality government funded skills programmes to recruit new talent or train current staff, including to help address skills shortages identified by the Migration Advisory Committee, such as through Skills Bootcamps in retrofitting.
Oct. 31 2023
Source Page: Apprenticeship End-Point Assessments Statistical Report: March 2022 to February 2023Found: February 2023: 121 awarding organisations delivered Ofqual regulated EPAs across 388 apprenticeship standards