The government has published details on how envisages the new Institute for Apprenticeships will operate in a new consultation.

The institute will launch in April, and will aim to ensure that all apprenticeships are of the highest quality and deliver the skills that employers need. It will approve apprenticeship standards and assessment plans, and today’s consultation sets out further detailed proposals on how it will be run.

The body’s main functions, according to the consultation, will be to set quality criteria for the development of apprenticeship standards and assessment plans. It will also review, approve or reject them, advise on the maximum level of government funding available for standards, and ensure arrangements are in place to quality-assure all end-point assessments.

In November, the government announced that the new Technical and Further Education Bill would allow for the remit of the institute to be expanded in line with the Post-16 Skills Plan. Days later, the institute’s interim chief executive, Peter Lauener, said he expected that it would have a strong focus on standards.

‘We know apprenticeships work’

Apprenticeships and skills minister Robert Halfon said: “We know apprenticeships work - 90 per cent of apprentices go on to secure a job, and nobody understands the skills employers need better than employers themselves. That is why we are introducing the Institute for Apprenticeships.”

The consultation closes on 31 January. 

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