This National Apprenticeship Week, I want to reflect on what government, businesses and educators have achieved together in the remarkable growth of high quality apprenticeships. For over a decade, this government has been striving to make high quality the feature that distinguishes these qualifications, whatever profession they lead to.
There were fewer than half a million people doing apprenticeships in 2009/10. Those training programmes had no requirement to last at least a year, and no minimum guided learning hours. Last year over 750,000 people participated in apprenticeships, training to the more rigorous standards we introduced from 2014. These were designed in partnership with many different industries, to restore the rigour and respect that apprenticeships had lost. There are now over 690 high quality standards available, for roles ranging from structural engineering to software development. Crucially, each one now delivers the skills that those industries are seeking in their new staff.
This academic year we’ve already seen 130,830 apprenticeship starts (August-October 2023), up 7% on the same period the previous year. Among those, the number of young people under 25 starting an apprenticeship is up by 6%, at 78,960 starts. And the number of achievements is up 22% so far this academic year, with 37,400 people passing their apprenticeship.
This is obviously great for those directly involved – the businesses nurturing talent that will give them a competitive edge, and the apprentices climbing the Ladder of Opportunity to higher earning power. But the legacy of this government’s skills revolution will also be long term economic growth, with high quality apprenticeships creating a pipeline of talent that boosts business success.
