£500m spent on substandard apprenticeships, study warns

Up to a third of new programmes ‘not fit for purpose’
11th November 2016, 12:00am
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£500m spent on substandard apprenticeships, study warns

https://www.tes.com/magazine/archived/ps500m-spent-substandard-apprenticeships-study-warns

Some £500 million is spent every year on apprenticeships that fall short of expected quality levels, according to a new report.

The research, published by thinktank Policy Exchange today, concludes that “as many as a third” of the new approved apprenticeship standards do not represent value for money.

“As a conservative estimate, £500 million of public money will be spent every year supporting young people and adults to undertake apprenticeships which are not apprenticeships,” the study states.

To arrive at this figure, the authors compared all apprenticeship frameworks and standards released by July this year with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) definition of an apprenticeship. They also compared some standards with other apprenticeships of the same occupational grouping or benchmarked them against apprenticeship standards in other countries.

“In the authors’ estimation, around 30 to 40 per cent of new approved apprenticeships standards do not meet [ILO definitions],” the report states. “An estimate of £500 million a year - representing a fifth of all apprenticeship spending by 2020 - is therefore a robust assumption.”

‘Lack of clarity’

The weaknesses found in some approved apprenticeships programmes include content that is insufficiently stretching to meet the demands of the profession and the level of qualification within it.

The research also identifies apprenticeship programmes not requiring substantial and sustained training, and apprenticeships that are, in fact, just rebadged CPD courses.

Apprenticeships with inadequate assessment methods also do not represent a worthwhile investment of public money, the report concludes.

However, it adds that it is “hard to place much blame” on employers and employer groups who “have in many situations worked hard and in good faith within the Trailblazer process to design a programme to meet their sector’s skills needs”. Instead, the authors believe the fault lies with the government.

“The government failed to clearly define what the reforms were supposed to achieve and what was meant by an ‘apprenticeship’ - ensuring a move away from internationally recognised definitions of what an apprenticeship is, and meaning that there has been a lack of clarity from the start as to the goals of the reform programme,” the report says.

The government failed to clearly define what the reforms were supposed to achieve and what was meant by an ‘apprenticeship’

Instead of simply having a target to hit 3 million apprenticeships by 2020, there should be a qualitative target to ensure that all existing and upcoming apprenticeship standards focus “unequivocally on quality”, the report argues. It adds that this emphasis on quality is essential even if it means that fewer apprenticeships are delivered.

The researchers also call for a new delivery infrastructure and funding model to support apprenticeships and wider high-quality technical education qualifications.

Mark Dawe, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, said: “We have called for a pause in the whole standards development process because there are important issues, which threaten to do serious damage to the apprenticeship brand.

“We totally agree with the report’s observations that apprentices should not be starting on programmes without proper assessment arrangements in place. Every standard should also include a recognised qualification.”

He added that the introduction of the apprenticeship levy in 2017 might “lead to some employers gaming the system”, and said it was “inevitable” that the tax “would mean that some existing in-house training would be turned into an apprenticeship”.

Apprenticeships and skills minister Robert Halfon said: “We have invested in the UK’s future by doubling funding for apprenticeships to £2.5 billion by 2019-20 and given employers more power than ever before to design training that meets their needs.

“We have made clear that all apprenticeships must be of the highest quality, and all standards are now developed by employers themselves and rigorously checked before being introduced.”

@JBelgutay

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