The National Audit Office has released a report that exposes a major flaw in the government’s plan to increase the number of apprenticeships. The government has failed to outline how more apprenticeships will lead to increased productivity.
Of course, this should come as no surprise. Many in the sector have been expressing this concern for some time now. I’ve used speaking engagements at a number of conferences to express my own concerns earlier in the year. NCFE’s response to the BIS Select Committee inquiry call for evidence in March included this comment:
“This 3 million figure quotes apprenticeship starts, that is, people beginning their programme. It does not record the number of sustained jobs created by the apprenticeship drive. We could therefore end up in a situation where the 3 million target is ‘met’, with a significant minority of apprentices becoming unemployed during, or after, their programme finishes. We’d ask for a more meaningful method of measuring the increased productivity the apprenticeship programme is delivering.”
The fact is that 3 million apprenticeships is an arbitrary target, first announced by David Cameron when removing housing benefit for 18-21 year olds and reducing the welfare cap:
“Because of difficult decisions we will make on welfare, we will deliver 3m apprenticeships by 2020.”
The target shortly made its way into the Conservative Party manifesto, before becoming protected in law last year.
There are many problems with the target. It’s completely ineffective as a performance indicator, and achieving it will tell us nothing of the success of apprenticeship reform. The government has not told us how simply increasing the number of apprenticeship starts will raise UK productivity, and I’m pleased, but not surprised, that the National Audit Office has challenged the government to explain how this will be the case.
Our message has always been to focus on creating high quality apprenticeships that lead to meaningful careers. If we can truly do this, we’ll never need to worry about the numbers, as learners will choose this route for the quality.
Of course, work to address the recommendations in the report could have been well underway already. I hope that the Minister for Apprenticeships and Skills, Rob Halfon, recognises that there are many in the sector who can play a valuable role in ensuring policy is fit for purpose.
The government has placed a lot of emphasis on listening to the views of employers, and rightfully so. It’s now time that they rebalanced their approach and gave equal influence to providers, Awarding Organisations and learners to ensure we create a system that works for all.
