Apprenticeship week – lots to celebrate and lots to do

This week is national apprenticeship week – the time to celebrate everything apprenticeship related. And there is a lot to celebrate:

·      750,000 people from all walks of life are working towards qualifications whilst working, giving them a step up the career ladder and greater earning potential. 

·      Up to a fifth of employers are investing in their workforce, giving their teams the opportunity to earn and learn, and instilling a culture of learning and working.

·      An increasing number of organisations are sharing their apprenticeship levy to others in their sector or supply chain, with employers working better together at tackling the structural skills issues in their sectors.

·      Thousands of partnerships are growing up which are bringing educators - colleges, universities, training providers - closer to employers, and integrating working and learning. 

·      A rise in degree level apprenticeships is challenging the orthodoxy that the only (or best) way of getting degree level qualifications is to do a full time undergraduate degree, setting you back ￡29,000. There are some notable jewels in this crown - take a bow Dyson, EY, nursing and policing.

But much as there is to celebrate, there is even more to do if apprenticeships are going to reach their potential as a transformative force in the UK skills system and wider economy.

First and foremost, the number of apprentices is simply too low. Numbers fell significantly with the introduction of the levy in 2017 and have climbed a bit, but they are still lower than pre-levy figures. And, drilling into the figures, the numbers are particularly low in the groups in which we would want to encourage more apprenticeships:

·      Although there is much to celebrate about more older apprentices (hurrah for lifelong learning!) and more apprenticeships at level 4 and above (hurrah for work-focused fee-free degrees!), younger apprentices taking lower and intermediate qualifications have reduced the most. They are exactly the people who will benefit most from the learn-and-earn model.

·      Numbers of apprenticeships are lowest in SMEs, which means they’re not benefitting from the better productivity that comes from better skills in their workforces.

·      The number of apprentices outside of cities and major towns is climbing more slowly than in the cities. So apprenticeships are not driving the levelling-up agenda.

·      Take up of apprenticeships needs to broaden across skill types. 83% of apprenticeships are in only four categories: Business Administration and Law, Health, Public Services and Care, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies, Retail and Commercial Enterprise. Numbers in data science, science and maths are worryingly low, given the acute skills gaps in the UK.

Given the challenging economic backdrop, we will need to think creatively about how to incentivise a rise in apprenticeships and jobs at the same time. I have argued elsewhere that we need a skills-led recovery, with a level of granularity about what skills we need in which regions and which industries. 

Second, completion rates are woefully and stubbornly low: over a third of people who start an apprenticeship do not finish. This is simply not OK. If university drop-out rates (currently about 6%) were anywhere near that high, it would be a national scandal. We need to get under the skin of completion, whether it’s driven by poor quality, lack of management support, or employer pressure to work not learn. 

Last, we need a step change in parity of esteem and understanding that an apprenticeship is a type of rigorous learning at work, available to anyone at any level, any age and in any profession. The model is not so different to the “pupillage” model in the legal industry. But apprenticeships are still too often seen as for young people who can’t get into university, or for “other peoples’ children”. Ironically, I worry that the more we talk about apprenticeships as a driver of social mobility (which of course they are), the more we suggest they are second best option, and the less take up there will be. A catch 22.

Though there is hard work ahead to help apprenticeships reach their place as a driver of individual progress, organisational success and economic growth, this week is all about celebrating the brilliant achievements of learners and employers. Congratulations to them all!