Apprenticeships and Traineeships to go under the spotlight

By: Lindsay Plumpton

Communications Leader

Thursday 24 July 2014

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MPs are set to take a closer look at the effectiveness of Apprenticeships and Traineeships for 16 to 19 year olds, it has been reported.

The House of Commons Education Select Committee has called for written evidence for the inquiry; particularly looking at whether Apprenticeships and Traineeships meet employers’ needs and prepare learners for work.

They will also explore the courses available, the impact of recent changes to funding and whether the Government is getting return for investment in this area.

Apprenticeships Blog

The review (which is the committee’s last before the general election) will also investigate employer engagement levels, looking at how the Government might encourage more businesses to offer apprenticeships.

Conservative MP, Graham Stuart, speaking at the Higher Ambitions Vocational Education Summit in London earlier this month commented that the UK had not given “vocational education anything close to the status it enjoys in countries such as Austria and Germany, which both noticeably have far lower youth unemployment rates than we have in Britain.”

At NCFE, we support raising the prominence of Apprenticeships and would like to see more young people looking at work-based training as a valid option as they receive their exam results this summer.

What do you think? Do you welcome the inquiry? How can we engage more employers in offering apprenticeship opportunities? What needs to be improved? How can we raise the status of vocational education further?

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Authors

Lindsay Plumpton

Communications Leader
96 posts
David Grailey

Chief Executive
79 posts
Andrew Gladstone-Heighton

Policy Leader
75 posts
Esme Winch

Managing Director
35 posts
Michael Lemin

Policy and Research Manager
25 posts

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