Another significant drop in the number of people starting apprenticeships has renewed concern that the levy introduced to fund an expansion of the training programme is not working.
The number of new apprentices fell by 27 per cent to 114,400 between August and October compared with the year before, official figures show. This follows on from the 60 per cent collapse in new apprenticeships in the previous quarter.
There was a rise in higher and degree apprenticeships, which are an increasingly popular alternative to university. There were 11,600 higher level starts, an increase of 26.8 per cent from the year before, with 2,200 taken up by school leavers aged under 19.
The levy requires all employers with annual wage costs exceeding £3 million to pay 0.5 per cent of staff costs into an apprenticeship fund topped up by the government. Many programmes are being overhauled, which may contribute to the fall.
Anne Milton, minister for skills, said it was right that employers were “taking their time to plan ahead, with two years to spend their levy funds”. Verity Davidge, head of education at the manufacturing group EEF, said the apprenticeship levy was not working. “The fact that the drop isn’t as huge as the previous quarter is by no means a cause for celebration, as the numbers are a snapshot of the time when most apprentices begin. The only ray of hope we can find is the increase in the number of higher apprenticeships. The government must listen to business concerns and ensure the levy delivers the demand-led system that was promised,” she said.
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“But we must not lose sight of why we introduced our reforms in the first place — to put quality at the heart of this programme and putting control in the hands of employers,” she said.
“It is right that they are taking their time to plan ahead, with two years to spend their levy funds, and maximise the opportunities an apprenticeship can bring for both the learner and employer. Feedback we’ve had shows employers are doing exactly that.”
However, the latest figures will add to concerns that the apprenticeship levy is being used to training existing staff, including executives taking MBAs. This is useful in raising productivity but not what the scheme was intended for.