Apprenticeships for 16- to 18-year-olds should be fully funded by the government, the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) has said. 

In its response to a number of government consultations around apprenticeship funding and the planned apprenticeship levy, the AELP said fully funding apprenticeships for 16- to 18-year-olds would be consistent with other forms of education for that age group.

Chief executive Mark Dawe (pictured) said: “Why should apprentices be the only 16- to 18-year-olds not to get free education and training? This approach appears discriminatory. 

“Social mobility and improved productivity have been rightly identified as key policy drivers of the new government for a post-Brexit Britain; in the short time we have available before the levy starts, we need a constructive dialogue with the government to shape an expanded apprenticeship programme that will support these objectives.”

Future provision unviable

New funding proposals threatened to wipe out provision for young people in disadvantaged urban areas, the AELP said, and proposed new funding rates for 19- to 23-year-olds would make future apprenticeship provision unviable in many business sectors.

The AELP also said the government should abandon the idea of employers being able to negotiate the price of apprenticeship training with a provider. It insisted the time period between announcing whether a provider was on the planned new register and it starting new apprentices was too short. 

Mr Dawe said: “We believe AELP’s concerns about the proposals can be simply resolved as we have suggested in our response and it is right for the government to press ahead with the levy and its apprenticeship policy.”

However, he stressed that some aspects of the reforms needed to be phased and introduced later than April 2017 to ensure a far less risky transition. “We are ready to share solutions with ministers and officials to assist in the successful implementation of reforms for a skills programme which is so vital for Britain’s economic future and for promoting social mobility,” he added.

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