The traineeships programme certainly got off to an ominous start. Back in 2013, Matthew Hancock, the skills minister at the time, missed a prime slot on breakfast television to promote the scheme - designed to prepare young people with the essential skills for work, apprenticeships or study - by turning up late.
A contrite Mr Hancock later tweeted: “You’ve got to be on time for work or there [are] consequences. I’ll learn from my example.”
Sadly, things haven’t got much better for traineeships. As our research shows, the lack of secure funding is putting off training providers from engaging with the programme - and the prospect of losing benefits is deterring potential learners. No wonder the modest number of enrollments is already dropping.
Proposals to term traineeships as pre-apprenticeships, mooted in Labour’s manifesto, could give the scheme the higher profile - and access to additional levy funding - it needs. This approach could appeal to the Conservatives: if the 3 million apprenticeships target looks in doubt, why not call traineeships “apprenticeships” instead?
They could still have a future, though: the Post-16 Skills Plan has built in space for traineeships as an alternative to the “transition year” for those “not ready to access a technical education route at age 16”.
Traineeships in their current form are not working. Let’s hope the next government gives them the attention needed - or plenty more young people could end up watching breakfast TV instead of setting off to work.
@stephenexley
