Can apprenticeship schemes be successfully revived in today’s labour market?
23 January 2008
The Nuffield Review argues that although the government has ‘high expectations’ of apprenticeships, such programmes currently present ‘limited prospects for growth’. The Review, led by Professor Richard Pring from Oxford University Education Department, has produced two papers – focusing on apprenticeship – as part of its series of Issues Papers on 14-19 education and training. Among the issues raised by the Review is whether apprenticeships can play a significant role in the context of the raising of the age of compulsory participation in education or training to 18 by 2015; as well as whether employers see apprenticeships as an attractive option, and the extent to which public money, or employers, should be responsible for investing in the training of young people to tackle the perceived skills shortage in this country.
In Issues Paper 3, Apprenticeship I: Prospects for growth, the Review reports that the number of young people in apprenticeship programmes is low, with only 7.5 per cent in work-based training in 2005, as compared with 11.3 per cent in 1994. The Review argues that apprenticeship as a whole is ‘a mixed bag’, featuring strongly in traditional sectors like engineering, construction, manufacturing and catering, but making little impact elsewhere. It argues that the apprenticeship system is competing with other flagship government policies – the expansion of higher education to those who have traditionally entered work-based routes and the introduction later this year of the new Diplomas. The shrinking size of the age cohort could also have an effect on the numbers opting for apprenticeships, as schools, colleges and work-based education providers compete for a decreasing pool of pupils.
The paper discusses strategies to promote apprenticeships and the possible barriers to implementing them: rebranding existing activity, widening the appeal of apprenticeship schemes to non-traditional applicants, and the setting up of a national ‘clearing house’, on the UCAS model, to match unfilled apprenticeship places with the qualifications of interested individuals. Although the paper suggests that greater involvement from schools could persuade more young people to consider apprenticeships, it also warns that if institutions need to retain students in the context of a dwindling cohort, ‘this may make impartiality more elusive as providers seek to maintain their viability’.
The paper stresses the importance of apprenticeships, which it says have ‘a vital role’ in addressing skills shortages, and suggests that with the right strategies in place apprenticeship might contribute to increasing participation rates of 17-year-olds in education and training to 90 per cent by 2015.
In Issues Paper 4, Apprenticeship II: A high-quality pathway for young people? the Review also addresses the issue of whether a balance can be struck between making apprenticeships attractive to employers, while at the same time ensuring that such programmes provide high-quality training for young people. The paper draws on the findings of a two-day workshop organised by the Nuffield Review, which looked at what should define ‘quality’ in an apprenticeship scheme in today’s labour market conditions. It asks whether further incentives are needed for employers in the private and public sectors to persuade them to offer apprenticeship places, especially as there are already not enough places to meet demand.
The Review believes a wider debate needs to take place, focusing on what apprenticeship is and who should benefit. It believes this is a matter of urgency given the amount of public money being invested in apprenticeships. The government has announced it is set to increase funding by almost a quarter between 2007-2011 to provide a total of 400,000 funded apprenticeship places. The Review also believes that the government’s 14-19 Green Paper entitlement statement, which says that by 2013 young people with the relevant entry requirements should have the opportunity to take up an apprenticeship place, ‘ could pose a major challenge in years to come’.
Dr Geoff Hayward, a director of the Nuffield Review from Oxford University’s Education Department, said: ‘Apprenticeship is an important part of the choice on offer for young people. However, the extent to which it will play a significant role in encouraging young people to stay on and achieve in education and training is unclear. Apprenticeship is competing with other education and training pathways available to young people, including the Diplomas. Apprenticeship growth is also limited by the availability of high quality training places being offered by employers. The risk of expanding apprenticeship further to meet government targets is that the public subsidises training in sectors that do not require intermediate level skills and which offer a poor learning experience for the apprentice.’
The paper also points out that if the apprenticeship system is to be attractive for employers, the schemes need to be flexible, and shorter than they were in the past, but warns that the system is currently ‘weakly regulated’ with no guarantee for young people that they will benefit from it. Also highlighted in the paper is the challenge of expanding the system to include those sectors with little tradition of apprenticeship and those sectors, such as construction, where the business model has changed.
Dr Hayward said: ‘Apprenticeship has the potential to offer young people a high-quality and respected training route, and many employers and young people currently benefit from its positive features. However, the Nuffield Review is concerned that the quality of apprenticeship programmes for all young people is not guaranteed across the programmes and the sectors involved. Greater clarity about what apprenticeship is, and who it should be for, is urgently needed if the term apprenticeship is not to become meaningless.’
Stephen Gardner, Director of Apprenticeships at the Learning and Skills Council and a member of the Nuffield Review Workshop, said: ‘I greatly welcome these two papers and their exploration of the strength of the apprenticeship programme and its potential for growth.
‘In recent years this country has experienced a renaissance of apprenticeships and last year more than 110,000 young people achieved a full, employer-based apprenticeship. However, there is still work to do if we are to have a world-class apprenticeship system and these reports will enable the LSC and all those involved in apprenticeships to focus on the key policy and operational issues.’
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