Enhancing the Value and Impact of the Apprenticeship System: The View from the IfATE
The State of Play in Apprenticeship Delivery: 10 Years of Reform
Huge improvements have been made to apprenticeships and, here at the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE), we are constantly looking at how we can make them work better for trainees and businesses.
Old-style apprenticeships pushed too many people into poorly paid work, with very little opportunity for career progression, because they mostly just trained people for low-skilled jobs.
Businesses also used to complain that apprenticeships could not be trusted because apprentices would complete without being properly tested. This often meant that they could be given a certificate saying they had passed, yet still be unable to actually do the job.
And employers often felt apprentices were being taught the wrong things because syllabuses were set by teaching or awarding organisations, not the businesses who obviously understand their training needs best.
This all changed through a decade of reforms which gave thousands of large and small businesses, supported by IfATE, the guiding hand with identifying which jobs needed apprenticeships and what trainees had to learn before they could be considered competent.
Another crucial improvement was the introduction of end point assessments, which have provided apprentices with that vital opportunity to prove to prospective employers that they really know their stuff.
As a result of these reforms, apprenticeships now cover all sectors and skills levels right up to degree level.
The Rise of Degree Apprenticeships
Around 30% of people who start on apprenticeships are at level 2 (GCSE-equivalent), 40% at level 3 (A-Level equivalent), and 30% for level 4 and above which includes increasingly popular degree apprenticeships.
I’m pleased to say there are now over 160 degree-level apprenticeships and just under 40,000 people started on them last year. That’s great progress considering there weren’t any before 2015.
You can train through degree apprenticeships to become anything from a nurse, or police officer, to a laboratory scientist, space engineer, journalist, movie special effects artist, solicitor, architect, or even an archaeologist. Big-name employers running programmes include BMW, the BBC, Park Plaza Hotels, Balfour Beatty, and GlaxoSmithKline.
Degree apprentices do not pay tuition fees and complete with a head start of real life work experience to show on their CVs. They also have a very good chance of gaining promotion with the business they did the apprenticeship with.
Degree apprenticeships are helping with social mobility as many people taking them tell us they would not have been able to take a traditional degree for financial reasons. There are of course no tuition fees for degree apprenticeships and trainees earn a wage while they learn. They also get a head start on conventional graduates through building up work experience to show on their CVs.
A report produced by Middlesex University actually found that 66% of their apprentices studying at degree level came from lower higher-education participation backgrounds.
Impact and Awareness
With regards to the overall impact of higher and degree apprenticeships, they are being taken to the next level in terms of awareness among young people because of a new UCAS search service. Every applicant who logs into their student account, known as the UCAS Hub, will now see the most relevant apprenticeships for them alongside degree courses.
It is also important to remember that apprenticeships are available to older people to upskill or retrain. In fact, just under half of all apprentices are aged over 25 with many of them tapping into higher level skills training opportunities.
Looking ahead, IfATE published our Future-Facing Innovation Strategy earlier this year setting out how we will support our employer experts, backed up by teams of researchers, with identifying the economy’s emerging skills needs and make sure they feed into apprenticeships.
IfATE is also making sure the right training is in place for emerging green skills through around 200 specially adapted apprenticeships. Sustainability business specialist apprentices are, for example, being trained to make their businesses more environmentally friendly.
Quality and Satisfaction
Satisfaction rates for apprenticeships are impressive, sitting at well over 80% among employers and apprentices.
Added to that, 92% of companies surveyed after taking on apprentices thought this had contributed to a more motivated and satisfied workforce. And the estimated return on investment for employers from each apprentice was between £2,500 and £18,000.
The quality of apprenticeships, and their reputation with the public, has in fact improved so much that demand is now by far exceeding supply. In 2023, 430,000 students expressed an interest in apprenticeship opportunities via UCAS – a 180% increase since 2021. But the total number of apprenticeship vacancies publicised through the Department for Education’s Find an Apprenticeship service was only 189,430 for the last academic year – up 41% from 134,460 the previous year yet still nowhere near enough businesses are offering opportunities.
Next Steps for Success on Apprenticeship Delivery
So, we’ve got the right apprenticeships in place now and know that government is firmly behind expanding the programme further, with skills minister Robert Halfon calling for “rocket boosters” to be put under degree apprenticeships in particular.
What we need now is for everyone involved with delivering apprenticeships to spread the word far and wide about how they have been transformed for the better.
HE providers can play their part by:
Reaching out to many more local employers who could benefit from employing degree apprentices
Improving how they promote the benefits of degree apprenticeships to potential learners
Checking out how they can broaden the variety of degree apprenticeships they offer to help expand the programme in their regions.
We must keep on encouraging people of all ages to boost their life chances through checking out what higher level apprenticeships could work best for them, and most importantly convince businesses of all sizes and from sectors across the economy to reap the benefits of upskilling their workforce and recruit lots more people to earn and learn.
