The minimum English and maths standards required to complete an apprenticeship will be reduced for people with learning difficulties and disabilities.
Following the publication yesterday of recommendations from Paul Maynard’s taskforce on access to apprenticeships for those with disabilities, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (Bis) has confirmed that it will alter its requirements.
The change relates to a “defined group of apprentices with learning difficulties and disabilities who are able to meet the occupational standard but will struggle to achieve English and maths qualifications at the level normally required”.
As a result of the taskforce’s recommendations, the minimum standards in English and maths for this group will be amended to entry level 3. Currently, the minimum standard for completing an intermediate apprenticeship is level 1.
‘Fair and robust’
A response from Bis and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) states that the change will be introduced from July and developed over the summer. “As the taskforce acknowledges, it is important that the adjusted English and maths requirement is available to apprentices who can demonstrate a need for it. We will work with stakeholders to define a fair and robust way to do this,” it adds.
The taskforce also calls for Bis and the DWP to consider “joining up funding streams, such as access to work and additional learning support”, as well as pilots to explore how the apprenticeship levy can be “flexed” to encourage employers to recruit more apprentices with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
The news was welcomed by David Hughes, chief executive of the Learning and Work Institute, who said he was delighted that the government departments were “working together to make the link between apprenticeship access, the government’s 3 million target and the ambition to halve the disability employment gap”.
He added: “With confidence and ambition from government and the sector, I am optimistic that these reforms will make a marked difference in the life chances of people with health conditions and disabilities and show the world what a truly inclusive labour market and apprenticeships system looks like.”
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