Apprenticeships

This has been a mind boggling area for many years now. In previous generations school children were quite literally sent to a local employer. Whether that was the local mine: local factory; or local offices to learn office skills. Obviously some people went off to further education or arranged their own apprenticeship too, but this was part of the process.

The government have tried to do a number of things over the years to support young people into employment and apprenticeships. However a lot of perceptions have not moved with these changes. As a careers adviser, I have had many parent ask why I can’t get there child (young person) onto an apprenticeship.

I did a previous blog on how the number of NEET’s (Not in Employment Education or Training) is on the rise.

Therefore it’s interesting to look at the latest figures relating to the apprenticeship levy. Just to be clear the Apprenticeship Levy applies to companies that have a pay bill of over £3 million per year. Paying 0.5% of their overall pay bill into the levy to then fund apprenticeships.

A recent report from parliament (www.parliament.uk) states that all of the apprenticeships in 2016/17 were 491,300. There are no new figures for the last academic year. However the apprenticeship service that runs alongside the apprenticeship levy has produced monthly updates on apprenticeships since May 2017 to May 2018. At the moment businesses can only join the apprenticeship service if the pay the levy. ‘Co-investment’ which is when an employer is not meeting the pay bill threshold, would pay 10% towards the cost of the apprenticeship, and the government pay 90%. Therefore the data that they produce is only relative to the impact the levy is having on apprenticeships for the larger companies that have a pay bill over £3 million, not apprenticeships as a whole.

Interestingly the apprenticeships in the last academic year (17/18) under the levy accumulate just over 1/3 of all of the apprenticeships in the previous academic year. Month on month over 25’s becoming apprentices under the levy has a noticeable increase. Although it isn’t noticed quite so much with the 16-24 year olds, the biggest difference was in September 2017: 21,290 (gov.uk); and the 25 years plus at 9,050. This did help the overall difference between the two become much closer where: 16-24 year olds on apprenticeships was 79,900; and the 25 plus was 71,500.

Consequently when we take a closer look at whether the apprenticeship levy is helping 16-24 year olds into employment, or whether they are helping to up-skill employees as a whole, the figures suggest that they are very close.

On reflection it is looking to be around 1/3 of all apprenticeships on an annual basis that the levy is currently supporting (that available figures portrait), which certainly helps in the UK’s economy. However due to the lack of data, we cannot analyse the impact of apprenticeships as a whole, and the ages comparable in how many 16-24 year olds are on an apprenticeship to how many 25 plus are on apprenticeships as a whole since the levy was introduced just over a year ago.

Looking back at the start of the blog on how young people are obtaining apprenticeships is quite different to the apprenticeship levy and what it does.

The career guidance ethos is to help people to make Well Informed Realistic Decisions (WIRD) and employability skills. So the previous process of getting someone an apprenticeship would be helping in the short term, not the long term. As making the decision and handing them the opportunity will not help them in their future.

It makes you question what the answer is. Should the levy be more directive and support career guidance and education in schools to support the social mobility of young people in the UK? Should companies that employ over a certain number of people be directed to employ 16-24 year old's as an apprentice? Or should schools and colleges be directed to use a percentage of their funding on independent careers advisers to support young people in making well informed realistic decisions and employability skills?