This month saw the long anticipated feedback from the Department for Education (DfE) on the changes to apprenticeship funding, due to be implemented from May 2017. Following overwhelming feedback from the sector, the DfE has engaged with employers, training providers and interested stakeholders to inform and adapt the provisional funding levels for frameworks and standards initially rolled out in the summer.
One of the key issues was around the additional costs associated with training 16-18 year olds on an apprenticeship framework. To resolve this issue, providers will now receive an additional payment from government, equivalent to 20% of the funding band maximum for that framework.
The DfE confirmed that they will still offer the additional £1,000 incentive to employers and providers for taking on a 16-18 year old on an apprenticeship framework or standard, as well as 19-24 year olds who were formerly in care or have an Education and Health Care plan.
The DfE have also listened and reacted to concerns from employers about the expiry of funds in their digital accounts, agreeing to extend the expiry period so that funds will now expire after 24 months unless they are spent on apprenticeship training.
Most welcome was the confirmation that to support individuals from disadvantaged areas, a simplified version of the current funding system will be retained, and at least the same level of funding will be provided for apprenticeship frameworks. This will be for one year whilst the DfE conducts a fuller review.
There are still issues to be addressed with the proposed new funding system, not least of which is the proposal for the 15 funding ‘bands’, with no lower limit set on them. This could lead to a situation where a price is negotiated which is too low to offer a quality apprenticeship solution. Low costs won’t necessarily mean best value for money for the apprenticeship in this case.
However, we shouldn’t just set our focus on apprenticeships as the only solution to the skills gap in the UK. Technical education more widely is an equally important piece of the productivity solution, and should be recognised as such.
In the forthcoming Autumn Statement, we ask that the Chancellor looks to at least safeguard the Adult Education Budget, as the need for lifelong reskilling of the workforce becomes even more essential as we look to leaving the European Union (EU).
We also ask that the Chancellor looks to increase the levels of funding available for 16-19 year olds, to fund high quality technical and academic education for this age group.
We are encouraged that the Chancellor has promised to safeguard funding that has traditionally flowed from the EU, and we ask that he looks to at least continue this for money flowing from the European Social Fund after the UK has left the EU.
We’ll be live tweeting updates from the Autumn Statement on the 23 November, follow us on Twitter @NCFE.
