It’s easy to criticise the apprenticeship levy – but we need to give it a chance

The start of 2018 has seen renewed criticism of the apprenticeship levy, with last year’s fall in apprenticeship starts being widely cited as evidence that it has become another business tax.

In fact, the levy represents a milestone in transforming the way employers access talent and how the post-18 education system operates for young people.

Larger organizations have argued that the £27,000 training allowance per apprentice falls short of covering the costs of higher level technical apprenticeship programmes. Others point to a lag in the certification of new training standards, coupled with the sheer size of the financial contribution required of the very largest companies, as barriers to any effective use of the 0.5 percent levy pot.

As always, there are two sides to this story. For one, the decline in the number of apprenticeship starts follows a marked spike in apprentice hires at the same time the year before, as employers readied themselves for the levy’s introduction in April 2017.

Two additional factors have fuelled initial falls in apprenticeship numbers, alongside a natural teething period as companies assess which apprenticeships will be most effective given their long-term plans.

First, employers are now far more discerning around which providers they work with, and what programmes they introduce, given they are spending their own money, rather than the government’s, on apprenticeships.

Second, smaller, non-levy paying companies, who used to benefit from fully government-funded apprenticeship training and do not pay the levy, are now obligated to cover 10 percent of the training costs.

Neither of these factors on their own is necessarily a bad thing. Employers taking time to plan and actively seek value for money around their apprenticeships will drive better quality programmes. And, by forcing smaller employers to co-invest in the qualification costs, competition for quality and innovation in a historically underwhelming training industry is stimulated. Further, it will help to stop the spread of apprentice roles that essentially amount to cheap labor, thinly veiled as qualifications.

True, the speed with which the legislation was introduced last April left providers playing catch-up to secure certification of new assessment standards in some areas. But there is real scope for innovation in the apprenticeship landscape, and a dose of creativity in the application of ring-fenced funds is resulting in genuinely life-changing opportunities for young people who want a viable alternative to university education.

Google is using the levy to recruit their next cohort of software engineers, with a real emphasis on their hiring process on promoting diversity and inclusion. Selecting entry-level talent based on potential, rather than experience, opens the door to candidates who might never otherwise have been considered.

Elsewhere, companies are using the levy to support personal development outside of their usual business functions and existing graduate schemes. Top law firm Mishcon de Reya, for example, has taken on accounting apprentices in their finance department, providing a new pipeline of fresh talent into the firm. This use of the levy to fund an apprenticeship scheme in the operational side of the business evidences the scope of implementation for all levy-paying employers.

The apprenticeship levy was introduced with precisely the objective of empowering employers to play a valuable role in addressing the growing UK skills gap. It is easy to criticise the realisation of a new policy, and there are certainly issues still to be resolved.

But the levy provides employers with a golden opportunity to diversify their entry-level talent and mould the kind of leaders they want driving their business in the future. It’s time that this positive potential was given equal recognition alongside the inevitable challenges faced in the levy’s application.

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MP calls for answers in police apprenticeship levy dispute

Despite paying into the apprenticeship levy, so far Welsh police forces have yet to benefit from their contribution.

The apprenticeship levy has exposed a “potentially devastating funding dispute” between the Welsh and UK governments over police training.

Plaid Cymru MP Ben Lake said it was unfair that the four Welsh police forces have to “pay millions into the levy” but cannot use it to train new police officers.

Mr Lake added: “Welsh police forces are already under significant financial pressure. Whether this impasse is a product of incompetence or error, or a consequence of some political gamesmanship, it will mean fewer police officers on Welsh streets.”

Police degree apprenticeships

He raised the issue in a debate on the police grant for England and Wales after fellow Plaid MP Liz Saville Roberts asked the UK Treasury in October if levy funds could be allocated to the College of Policing to train officers.

In June the College of Policing launched a degree apprenticeship programme to train police constables.

Chief secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss said that, as skills policy is a devolved matter, it was up to the Welsh government to decide how to spend the levy.

No digital accounts

In the debate on Wednesday, Mr Lake said: “The government at this end of the M4 claim that as training is devolved, the Welsh government are responsible for the funding of training and apprenticeships. The Welsh government, on the other hand, claim that the funding of officers’ training and apprenticeships is a matter for Westminster because policing is a reserved matter.”

Unlike in England, where employers can access a digital account which lets them fund apprenticeship training to the value of their levy payment, in Wales levy funds go straight to the devolved administration and training is delivered through the Welsh apprenticeship provider network.

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Half of managers do not plan to use apprenticeship levy fund

Almost half (49%) of managers have said they would not use their training fund available through apprenticeship levy, with many claiming there were no apprenticeships available in their industry.

A survey by training course provider DPG found that 43% of managers did not believe there were any apprenticeships that were useful for their businesses, despite programmes being offered in many areas including HR, IT and finance.

Communication by the Government might be at the heart of the issue, DPG said, as 63% of the 1,000 managers polled claimed they had never heard of the apprenticeship levy.

The apprenticeship levy was introduced last April and sees employers with an annual pay bill of £3m contribute 0.5% of their payroll towards a levy, which can be claimed back to fund training for new or existing employees.

Paul Drew, managing director at DPG, said: “These findings certainly highlight the need for a more focused approach to communicating the levy and its benefits.

“Gone are the days where apprenticeships were largely for school leavers and manual jobs, but sadly it appears that business perceptions haven’t quite caught up.

“The great range of business skills that can be developed through apprenticeships is a really positive thing and they can bring positive change for all sorts of businesses. The problem is that the Government needs to make this more obvious and needs to make it more about the skills and benefits than about the money itself.”

More than a quarter (27%) of managers said they did not see the benefit in offering apprenticeships for their businesses, while 17% “didn’t see the point” in apprenticeships at all.

According to the Department for Education, there was a 26.5% drop in the number of apprenticeships started in the first quarter of the academic year. The Government said would take some time for take-up of apprenticeships under the new system to bed in.

Drew reminded employers that apprenticeships are not just for new starters, but also for existing staff. “They can be incredibly enriching not just when it comes to increasing in-house skills, but also on a personal fulfillment level for employees,” he added.

The CIPD recently found that almost half of the organizations planned to repackage their existing training schemes as apprenticeships in order to access their £15,000 training fund, rather than creating an apprenticeship programme from scratch.

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Apprentices will get a place at Cambridge University

Cambridge University is to offer apprenticeships for the first time in a sign that vocational training is becoming a genuine alternative to conventional degrees and £27,000 tuition fees.

The university has been registered as an official apprenticeship trainer alongside companies such as Lloyds Bank, Greggs bakery, and British Airways. Other universities including Bath Spa and the University of Brighton, which are already renowned for their vocational courses, have also been registered.

A spokesman for Cambridge said that the type of courses and employers involved were in “active development”. “The university will be focusing its initial apprenticeship offer at the postgraduate level in a selected range of professional fields,” the spokesman said. “Working with employers and apprentices, Cambridge is intending to deliver research-informed, apprenticeship training through its Institute of Continuing Education and academic departments.”

Given the skills shortage in digital technology and Cambridge’s proximity to the cluster of businesses known as Silicon Fen, it is likely that computing will feature high on the list.

Elite apprenticeships, which combine working with the study, are fast becoming an alternative to conventional university. The civil service is the biggest provider of higher and degree apprenticeships, followed by BAE Systems, the aerospace company, and PWC, the accountancy firm. Some employers predict that they will eventually overtake graduate recruitment programmes.

Leading employers have complained that graduates have very little experience of work and need extensive training before they can become useful employees. By recruiting school leavers on to higher or degree apprenticeship programmes they can provide training and work experience at the same time. In turn, young people can obtain a degree or other recognized qualifications while being paid and without racking up student debts of, on average, £50,000.

About 1,000 students will start higher and degree apprenticeship courses this September at the National College for Nuclear, which is officially established today. The growing nuclear sector will need 6,000 trained staff each year for new technical and professional jobs to cope with the development of twelve new reactors across five sites. The National College will have hubs in Cumbria, near Sellafield, and Somerset, near Hinckley Point, where the first new nuclear power station for a generation is due to open in the mid-2020s.

A nuclear waste dump for all Britain’s waste has been proposed, with Cumbria the most likely site. There are also plans for another new nuclear power station near Sellafield. One of the courses on offer at the college is a degree in decommission and waste management.

The universities of Cumbria and Bristol are also involved in the college’s teaching. Anne Milton, the apprenticeships and skills minister, said: “This college will provide our nuclear industry with the highly skilled engineers, scientists and technicians it needs to grow, as well as giving more people opportunities in the competitive job market.”

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Why are we still waiting for apprenticeship levy standards?

Construction has been working with government to develop new apprenticeship standards since 2014. So why have only 27 of the 75 standards submitted been approved for delivery?

In March 2014 the government announced that construction would be among the second batch of sectors, alongside 28 others, to be brought into the new apprenticeship system.

By mid-2015, trade bodies, the CITB and employers from main contractors and architects through to SMEs and consultants had come together to form trailblazer groups, each of which consisted of at least 12 employers. These groups were encouraged to work with as wide a pool of employers as possible, and were handed the task of creating new standards for apprenticeships.

The idea was simple. Each trailblazer group would develop one occupational standard for an apprenticeship, ensuring that each trade had one definitive apprenticeship. These were handed out on a first come, first serve basis, but stakeholders could ask to join a trailblazer group that was developing a standard for a trade in which they had an interest.

As new apprenticeship standards were approved for delivery in a given occupation (bricklaying, for example) employers could begin using them and would phase out any bricklaying apprenticeships they provided under the previous framework. The aim was to ensure all apprentices had a universal competency level within their trade, based on every employer using the same apprenticeship standards.

In April last year the government rolled out its apprenticeship levy, obliging companies with PAYE bills above £3m to pay 0.5 per cent into a government levy fund. This money is used to fund digital accounts for employers to spend on approved apprenticeship programmes. Yet to date, only 27 of the 75 standards submitted have been approved for use. So what’s happened?

Trial and error takes time

The system was a simple and forward-thinking idea. But the problem with a massive overhaul that brings together such a wide variety of stakeholders, and asks them to do something that hasn’t been done before, is the amount of trial and error it involves.

“The interesting thing about the trailblazer initiative is that the goalposts have moved every now and then,” says FMB director of external affairs Sarah McMonagle.

“The government has learned as it goes, in terms of what works well and what doesn’t. The trailblazer guidance that is published alongside this piece of work is constantly being updated, so what might be permissible this month was then changing sometimes, and that I think is one of the reasons why the process has been long.”

The time it has taken to get the new apprenticeship standards approved has led many in the industry to see them as failing to deliver on their promise. The standards are late even by the government’s expectations, which said in a guidance document to trailblazers back in March 2014: “Our aim is that from 2017/18 all new apprenticeship starts will be on the new standards.”

But changing guidance from government is only one of numerous snags the new standards have hit.

“When we first started developing these trailblazers, the Institute of Apprenticeships didn’t exist,” Ms McMonagle explains. “So it was all coming through the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, which has since changed to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

“And also since that time, skills has been taken out of the Department for Business and put into the Department for Education because the government felt that education, academic and technical should be working more closely together.”

As a result, oversight of the programme has changed hands three times since the second cohort of sectors began developing their new standards in 2014, with the scheme finally finding a purpose-built home in the shape of the Institute for Apprenticeships (IfA), created in April 2017.

One of the reasons for establishing the IfA was to take responsibility for approving standards away from civil servants who “didn’t really have knowledge of the industry”, Ms McMonagle suggests, and place it in more informed hands. The IfA’s route panel now fulfils this responsibility and is made up of experts from each industry. The construction group within the route panel comprises seven leading industry lights and is chaired by Gradon Architecture’s technical director Tanja Smith.

Untangling a legacy of knots

Despite this step forward, the ever-changing guidance policies from previous departments created a legacy of standards now considered unfit for purpose by the IfA.

This is partly due to a more robust application of the quality criteria; in other instances, it is down to the IfA’s inability to fulfil promises made by previous departments that exemptions would be granted to get standards approved.

“When the institute came into being, there was effectively a change in terms of the ability of the government to make exemptions to policy rules that govern apprenticeships,” says IfA deputy director for standards Jonathan Mitchell.

“Before the institute came into being, ministers had a degree of discretion to be able to say, ‘In this particular case for this particular standard, we’re going to make an exemption to this particular policy rule’. That might have been about mandatory qualifications or something about the endpoint assessment being independent or not, for example. Ministers could do that.”

Mr Mitchell adds: “That meant people who started developing a standard before the institute came into being and then tried to get it approved once the institute [was in place] found themselves in an unenviable position, because they had hoped to get exemptions which we were unable to grant. That posed problems and required quite a lot of reworking on the part of some trailblazers and that took time. I’d be the first to concede that that’s the case.”

Another legacy issue the IfA is trying to untangle revolves around terminology. Since the Richard Review in 2012 (the genesis for the new apprenticeships), the idea has always been to create one apprenticeship standard per trade. There would be no entry, intermediate or advanced-level apprenticeships – only one definitive apprenticeship standard that would be given a single level.

Construction is, unfortunately, an industry that has sometimes differentiated between similar occupations by assigning them different levels, when in fact giving them different names might have been more appropriate.

“Previously we may have said a carpenter level two and a carpenter level three when in truth, they probably should have been called a carpenter, a carpentry specialist, or carpentry supervision,” says CITB policy director Steve Radley. “Somebody operating at what was previously level three, which we call advanced, will be doing very different things on site to somebody who is operating at the previous level 2.”

As a result, there are now two apprenticeships standards currently in development for carpentry and joinery (an advanced level three and a level two), which are both waiting to have their funding band assigned, after which they will be approved.

Putting aside the confusion this creates in a system that was only ever intended to have one level per trade, the misunderstanding in terminology between levels and occupations led to multiple trailblazers developing almost identical standards. The amount of time lost on these was compounded by a lack of joined-up thinking at the initial stages of development, meaning duplicates were only discovered at a later stage.

“At the beginning there was a lack of co-ordination and bigger picture thinking,” Mr Radley reflects. “It was almost like treating every single trailblazer standard in isolation, when really it needs to be from a sectoral view.”

Mr Mitchell adds: “One of the rules the institute is obliged to implement is around overlap. We were obliged not to approve apprenticeship standards where there was substantial overlap.”

Meanwhile, some of the trailblazer groups that had not fallen foul of the terminology confusion were wrangling about the most appropriate level for their apprenticeship standards. The FMB has been part of the trailblazer group working on the bricklaying and plastering standards since the summer of 2015 (both are yet to have their assessment plan approved and funding band assigned nearly three years later).

The FMB went into the process wanting to “raise the bar and ideally we would have had a level three, three-year apprenticeship in both bricklaying and plastering”, Ms McMonagle says.

“But because that wasn’t the vision of the larger housebuilders, we compromised on a so-called level 2.5 which doesn’t exist, but [we] developed a two-and-a-half-year apprenticeship at level two [in bricklaying], so six months longer than what’s currently out there, and making sure that the bare minimum of bricklaying apprentices is now better than it would have been previously.”

She adds: “It was quite eye-opening in that sense. The FMB went into it with a lot of optimism; we thought it was going to be a straightforward process and we were going to be able to get the industry behind us. But it did transpire that some quarters of the industry had different views to the FMB and its members.”

Where are we now?

At the time of writing, there are 75 apprenticeship standards in development for construction, only 27 of which have been approved and are ready for delivery. To the IfA’s credit, of the 27 approved standards, 12 were approved after it was established in April 2017.

It’s little consolation for those businesses that have been paying a levy towards the new apprenticeships since April 2017, yet are unable to use their levy pot as intended because the standard they need hasn’t yet been approved.

“The simple fact is they have got two years from starting to pay their levy until money in their levy account expires,” the IfA’s Mr Mitchell says. “It is absolutely my ambition to make sure they have standards that they can spend that money on long before that levy expires.”

He adds: “I’m not downplaying the importance of having those construction-focused standards ready to be used. But there are plenty of other standards out there that construction companies also need to use. So just because you’re a construction company it doesn’t mean you don’t also need some of those back-office roles where you can spend your levy and all sorts of other things as well.”

But construction is an industry with a technical skills gap, not a back-office skills gap – something not lost on Mott MacDonald senior early careers adviser Holly Savage. “The development of the standards has been relatively slow in comparison to what our skills shortages are as an industry,” she says.

“They probably should have started us paying levy funds a bit later because the number of standards available are not enough that we would actually maximise the utilisation of our levy, and I think this is across industries.”

Nevertheless, Ms Savage says that on the whole, the changes to apprenticeships are well-intentioned and positive for the industry.

“I do think the apprentice levy is a positive thing and the fact we’ve now got apprenticeship standards to degree level is a majorly positive thing. I think the philosophy behind it is great. It’s just that the timing has been off because there aren’t enough standards available.”

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Arnold Clark recruits broader range of apprentices in 2018

Arnold Clark is gearing up to recruit 300 new apprentices this summer in a broader range of roles.

The dealer group is looking apprenticeships in traditional motor trade roles such as technicians, spray painters, body repairers and parts advisors and also in roles such as IT, engineering, customer service and business administration.

All apprentices will receive training at an Arnold Clark site and some will attend a number of week-long visits at one of the Group’s GTG training centres.

After gaining their qualifications, apprentices have the opportunity to grow their skills further and develop their career within the Group.

Suzanne Sherry, apprentice recruitment manager at Arnold Clark said: “This year’s recruitment drive demonstrates our continued commitment to the apprenticeship scheme and to creating new jobs throughout the UK. It’s important for us to introduce a younger and more diverse workforce to the Arnold Clark team.

‘We know that there are still some gaps in understanding; from the age at which the apprenticeship journey can begin, to the benefits it can bring. Little by little, we hope to eradicate any misconceptions about apprenticeships, and to raise awareness of them as a viable and hugely rewarding career path.”

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Apprenticeship levy: Bureaucracy is holding us back

Within the industry we know we can be dynamic, innovative and forward-thinking. But as the recent backlash to the apprenticeship levy highlights, businesses like ours continue to face hurdles that are blocking our full growth potential.

In response to economic and political uncertainty, our sector should be focusing on boosting productivity through automation and digitisation. Instead, we are playing a recruitment waiting game fuelled by a major blocker in the apprenticeship levy process: the approval of standards.

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At United Living, we saw the apprenticeship levy as a chance to address the skills shortage and to attract people into the sector – particularly school-leavers. We still feel this way but a year on, it’s difficult to see how anything has really changed. One of the biggest issues is the delay in approving degree-level apprenticeships.

Still waiting

For school-leavers, apprenticeships provide young people with the opportunity to join a business straight from school, enabling them to gain practical experience while studying for their degree. Yet we are still waiting for four degree-apprenticeship standards to be signed off following last year’s implementation of the levy, which is preventing individuals from starting on these vital pathways.

We are not alone in our frustrations. Business schools, for example, are having to delay courses as they have been unable to sign up apprentices paid for by the levy.

The process is not helped by the fact that both the national apprenticeship standard and the assessment plan must first be approved, and then a funding band assigned from a government that continues to shift both its people and policies.

In the meantime, we can’t sit back and do nothing, so we are implementing our own internal learning opportunities to bridge the gap while we wait. National Apprenticeship Week (5-9 March) can provide the impetus to resolve the situation. We want to be able to go into schools knowing we can use the apprenticeship levy in the way we had planned to sell the proposition of a career in our industry.

Northern trailblazer

The challenges to deliver effective apprenticeships should also be considered in a regional context, playing to the strengths of our city-regions especially.

As such, the Northern Powerhouse Skills report launched last week may prove to be a trailblazer for some exciting new approaches. It calls on every northern business to mentor or reach out to at least the same number of young people as they have employees. This would see almost 900,000 given experience of work. It also recommends improving the application system for all post-16 opportunities – including apprentices – so that the best minds can be retained in the region.

These are tangible recommendations that could be replicated elsewhere in the UK, but for such ideas to gain traction and work effectively, they need the apprenticeship levy to reach its full potential.

Businesses have a 24-month window to claim back any levy. The clock is more than ticking and we desperately need more pace and less frustration.

If nothing changes, construction will continue to be stuck in a skills rut, unable to move at the pace we need to drive growth. Improving the approval process must be a priority for all those involved, otherwise we will continue to play a waiting game where the opportunities remain frustratingly out of reach.

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ICT apprenticeship uptake dropped over the past year

The number of people in the UK choosing to do ICT apprenticeships has dropped over the past year despite the government’s apprenticeship levy.

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The number of people who started apprenticeships in 2016/17 dropped in comparison to the year before, according to research.

Data from the Education and Skills Funding Agency suggested the number of people starting ICT apprenticeships in 2016/17 dropped by 6.3% in comparison to 2015/16 – a drop to 15,010 in 2016/17 from 16,020 the year before.

Derek Kelly, CEO of SJD Accountancy, a firm that provides services to a large number of IT contractors, said the number of people taking ICT apprenticeships appeared to have been recovering from a dip in the academic year 2013/14, but has since taken another nosedive despite the need for skilled workers.

“The impact of the new apprenticeship levy and obligations on smaller employers to meet some of the training costs has clearly discouraged the use of apprentices. The question is whether the initial drop-off in the number of ICT apprentices will bounce back or whether we will see further falls as employers invest in upskilling existing staff instead,” he said.

The government’s new apprenticeship rules came into effect at the beginning of April 2017, requiring firms with a payroll worth more than £3m to contribute to the apprenticeship levy – this has led many IT professionals to raise concerns over how best to use this levy to develop the technology skills the UK needs.

But despite government efforts to promote alternatives to university, such as apprenticeships, the Education and Skills Funding Agency data shows the number of people starting ICT apprenticeships hasn’t recovered since its peak in 2011/12 when 18,520 started an ICT apprenticeship.

Many believe this is partly due to uncertainty in the skills market caused by the UK’s Brexit vote, which has caused almost three-quarters of tech workers in the UK to consider moving elsewhere once the UK leaves the European Union (EU).

This has made it more important for the UK to focus on developing home-grown tech talent, but many claim there is still a “mismatch” between what firms want from potential employees and the skills young people have when they leave education.

According to SJD Accountancy’s analysis of Education and Skills Funding Agency data, less than two-thirds of apprentices typically finish their courses with a qualification, and the number of people who completed an apprenticeship also dropped slightly in 2016/17 in comparison to the previous year.

“The UK has suffered from a chronic underproduction of tech skills, which has made it increasingly reliant on foreign talent to plug skills gaps. With the UK leaving the EU, that model is under threat, which makes indigenous skills and training more important than ever for the growth of the UK tech sector,” said Kelly.

In many cases, firms are turning to contractors when they are unable to find new recruits with the skills needed to fill roles. SJD Accountancy’s data found 8.7% of firms had hired IT contractors over the past six months, an increase from the 3.4% of firms hiring IT contractors in the months immediately following the UK’s decision to leave the European Union.

Though the UK government has aimed to provide a more robust tech talent pipeline through the introduction of the new computing curriculum, Kelly believes “increasing the talent pipeline will be vital” to meeting the predicted demand for technology skills over the next five years.

Barriers to apprenticeships

However, apprenticeships are still regarded by parents and teachers, as well as some industry professionals, as not being as valid of a route into a career when compared against a university degree.

Education and Skills Funding Agency data suggests that the number of people under the age of 19 – the age in England where people are considering what route to take following their A-Levels – who have chosen to pursue an ICT apprenticeship dropped significantly in the 2016/17 academic year.

In 2015/16, 6,660 people under the age of 19 started an ICT degree, which dropped to 5,290 the following year. This is still significantly lower than in 2011/12, where the number of people in this age range who started an ICT apprenticeship reached 7,930.

John Pritchard, head of apprenticeships at BCS – The Chartered Institute for IT, said: “We need to reverse the downward trend, and encourage all players – government, employers large and small, teachers, careers advisors, parents and, of course, young people themselves – of the huge value that an apprenticeship can bring in kick-starting their careers.”

There is also a lack of advice for young people hoping to take an alternative route to university, and many who have started apprenticeships have said they had to use search engines to find different routes into the workplace.

The Apprenticeship Levy introduced by the UK government in 2017 was developed as part of the government’s strategy to create three million apprenticeships by 2020, but many in the IT industry are concerned firms will not use the Levy to grow the skills needed to address the skills gaps that exist now and will exist in the future.

“There is a clear message in the digital space that we now have a progression route from entry to masters level, which will enable career paths with true technical competence and professional recognition,” said Pritchard.

To better understand the demand for technology and digital roles in the UK, the government recently launched a survey to find out more about the current and future digital skills needs across all industries with the hope of better addressing these needs in the future.

This will help the government to form more relevant policies to help close skills gaps in the future, as well as contribute to some of the strategies the government already has in place.

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Rethink the apprenticeship levy, don’t replace it

The government’s apprenticeship levy has come in for heavy criticism in recent weeks. Billed as the answer to the nation’s skills shortage, more than half of employers currently paying the levy are already calling for it to replaced: less than year after it was introduced.

According to research from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, 53% of levy-paying employers would prefer a training levy. This is compared with 17% who supported the apprenticeship levy.

But a training levy is not the solution. In theory a levy for apprenticeships is still a solid initiative, but the government needs to work more closely with training firms and employers to ensure it is fit for purpose.

The levy was introduced in April 2017 and compels businesses with an annual wage bill of £3 million or more to pay 0.5% of their payroll costs into an apprenticeship fund. Employers can draw on the fund to help cover the cost of their own training, as long as they do so within two years of making a contribution.

Many small businesses, including those in the financial planning sector, had hoped to access funding in order to support the development of new talent.

Use it or lose it

But employers are struggling to find apprenticeship programmes that meet their requirements. This is often because firms that have training programmes are struggling to meet the requirements of the Department for Education, such as not using the levy for wages, induction, exam resits and more.

As a result, levy-paying firms are using these funds to upskill current employees. After all, if the money is not used, it becomes part of the government’s pot and is essentially just another tax.

This, of course, was not the point of the apprenticeship levy. Apprenticeships are supposed to be about helping people embark on a new career by giving them the skills and knowledge they need. That is not to say they should be limited to people leaving school. They can, and should, be for anyone who wants to enter a new career that requires training to obtain the skills and knowledge for that role.

In 2016 the Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority acknowledged the growing advice gap. It pledged to make financial advice more widely available. The apprenticeship levy provided the perfect opportunity to channel funding towards the investment in skills required to bring new blood into the sector. Additionally, this could replenish the number of professionally qualified financial advisers able to support the consumer with their finances.

Bridging the knowledge gap

This is desperately needed in a profession where there are fewer than 30,000 financial advisers operating in the UK, and the majority are over 50 years old.

So the government needs to take a closer look at the levy. Currently, there is insufficient funding available for small businesses to take on apprentices.

The negative impact of this is wide-reaching. Small advice firms had hoped to access funding in order to support the development of new talent. However, last year they saw their plans scuppered and aspiring financial advisers were left with a funding shortfall at the 11th hour.

Without apprenticeships, it is not only those firms and the next generation of financial planners who miss out, but UK savers as well.

Source

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Apprenticeship levy to cost schools £110m

Apprenticeship levy to cost schools £110m, but only half of single-school academies have to pay – compared with all maintained schools, DfE estimates.

Tes reports that the apprenticeship levy will hit more than 16,000 schools, which will have to pay a combined £110m into the fund, according to Department for Education estimates.

But, while all maintained schools are expected to contribute to the levy, the DfE predicts only half of single-school academies will be covered.

The levy, introduced this financial year, is a tax of 0.5%, which can be used to train apprentices.

A Department for Education document published today states: “We estimated that over 16,000 schools (three quarters of the total) will pay a combined apprenticeship levy of around £110m.”

The levy has been criticised for adding an extra pressure to maintained schools’ budgets – while exempting many academies from the costs.

This is because it is only paid by employers with annual wage bills of more than £3m – and for maintained schools it is their local authority’s pay bill that is taken into account.

The decision to include small maintained schools in this way was branded “the most bizarre unintended consequence in education policy” by Jonathan Simons, former head of education at Policy Exchange.

The document published today assumes that all community, voluntary-controlled schools and pupil referral units, and around 90% of multi-academy trusts will have to pay the levy.

But only around half of single school academy trusts are expected to be covered, and only 10 per cent of foundation and voluntary-aided schools.

The DfE document sets out the costs facing schools over the next two years. It says: “At the national level, total core schools and high needs funding over the period will increase at 3.1% on a per pupil basis. This slightly exceeds the latest forecast for the rate of inflation, which is 2.9% over the same period.

Source

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Bozeman company offers state’s first manufacturing apprenticeship

A Bozeman company that makes toys, apparel and beds for cats and dogs is offering the state’s first manufacturing apprenticeship.

West Paw Designs is hosting Holly Evans, 20, for an injection molding apprenticeship. The program is aimed at training workers to meet the demands from the state’s growing manufacturing industry.

Evans has been with the company for about four months, but has been in the apprentice program for about four weeks.

In her first couple of months at the company, Evans said she’s operating machinery that would normally take five years to build at other companies. She said by the end of the program, she’ll be able to say she knows how to operate machinery for injection molding and will have the certificate to prove it.

“For me, right now, I feel like I’m getting paid to go to school,” she said.

On Thursday, Gov. Steve Bullock toured the company’s building and met with Evans.

Bullock touted that the program was driven by the company and was helping to increase the workforce for the manufacturing industry, which he said was booming in the state. Put simply, Bullock said, Evans is earning money while learning skills.

“Once we bring those two together, folks like Holly are getting paid better while she’s gaining those skills, and the employer is getting what they need out of them,” he said.

The company attended a presentation on apprenticeships at an Innovate Montana Symposium last summer, put on by the governor’s office. Since then, the company has created a set of standards for the injection molding apprenticeship.

A curriculum designed by West Paw has been developed and is being taught in high schools in Bozeman, Three Forks and Livingston. West Paw CEO Spencer Williams said the program was for anyone who wanted to learn and wasn’t restricted to high school and college students.

He said the apprenticeship provides for those who want hands-on learning.

Source

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Information on how to become a provider of apprenticeships published

The publication includes details on how to register as a provider, to sign apprenticeship agreements and contract for services

Information for organisations who want to offer apprenticeship or further education training funded by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) has been published.

The publication includes details on how to register as a provider, to sign apprenticeship agreements and contract for services. It also sets out how to register for the Learning Records Service and the Employer Data Return Service (EDRS), and submit your training offer to the course directory.

Details on how data is to be returned for payment and how providers’ performance will be monitored are also included in the publication.

Source

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Give apprenticeship levy more time, says Abta and leading firms

Leading travel firms and Abta have called for an apprenticeship levy on businesses to be given more time to have an impact.

Last week the British Retail Consortium seized on a 27% year-on-year fall in the number of new apprentices in England to demand a review of the levy.

Since last April, large firms have had to contribute 0.5% of annual wage bills above £3 million to help fund apprentice schemes.

The government has targeted creating an additional three million apprentices by 2020.

The nationwide fall in numbers was blamed on a lack of flexibility on what levy funds can be spent on. Figures are not available for apprentice numbers in travel.

Andy Smyth, Tui early talent and apprenticeships manager, said: “The new apprenticeship standards will take time to embed into organisation and training provider practices.

“We are moving in the right direction and must allow the new system to settle.”

Carole Hodgson, Hays Travel apprentices delivery manager, was not surprised some firms are struggling, but added: “The levy needs time because it’s all about quality now.

“At Hays we have the knowledge and confidence, but even for us it’s been a challenge because we have had to rethink how we do things.”

Vicki Wolfe, Abta education partnerships manager, said: “It’s unsurprising there has been a fall in apprentice numbers as industries and businesses adapt.

“We expect [the levy] to take some time to bed in before the success…can be fully measured.”

Annette Allmark, director of strategic policy at sector skills body People 1st, said apprentice numbers were always likely to fall as businesses adapted.

Source

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Total of 468 new apprenticeship training providers approved

British Airways and the University of Cambridge are among those to have joined the government’s official register of apprenticeship training providers in the latest round of approvals.

A total of 468 new apprenticeship training providers have been approved to join the government’s official register.

There are now 2,577 providers on the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s (ESFA) register of apprenticeship training providers, which launched last March.

Industry giants such as British Airways, Lloyds Bank, G4S and Greggs are among the 61 new employer providers – those levy-paying employers that are permitted to provide training to their own staff or to apprentices in their connected companies.

Hospitals, police forces and universities

The University of Cambridge, Capita and Thomas Cook join 291 new main providers, which are organisations that can be selected by levy-paying employers to deliver apprenticeship training, or selected by another main provider to work as a subcontractor.

There are 112 new supporting providers, which act as subcontractors on behalf of main providers for contracts worth between £100,000 and £500,0000. New additions include Northern Rail and three NHS trusts.

Some 24 police forces have been registered as providers in the latest round, as well as 15 universities, including the University of Edinburgh and the University of Manchester.

Quality assurance

Cardinal Newman College, a Catholic sixth-form college in Preston, and University Campus St Albans, a joint venture between the University of Hertfordshire and Oaklands College, also join the register.

This represents the third big round of registrations since the register was introduced almost a year ago in order to help monitor training providers directly or indirectly receiving apprenticeship levy funds and ensure quality. Those offering apprentices at levels 2 and 3 are subject to inspection by Ofsted and those offering level 4 and 5 will also be monitored by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.

Source

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Talented 17-year-old wins Barratt apprenticeship award

A trainee carpenter and joiner has been rewarded for his hard work and high standards by being named Apprentice of the Quarter by Barratt Homes.

17-year-old Jack Ford, from Bordon in Hampshire, was given the accolade in recognition of the quality he has shown by the five-star rated national housebuilder as he continues his training through the Future Skills Centre, part of the Basingstoke College of Technology.

Starting his career journey at Mill Chase School in his home town, Jack has already shown signs of success with excellent performance at construction workshops held with the school as part of Barratt Homes’ educational program. As well as focusing on completing his training and qualifications, this latest success also gives him the role of a mentor to his peers at the New Quarter development underway in Bordon, providing a range of properties in a £1bn ‘green town’ masterplan.

Barratt Homes community liaison manager, Anthony Dimmick, encouraged Jack to apply for the apprenticeship after seeing the young man’s potential at the workshop.

“Jack’s developing a great set of skills and we’re delighted to have him working and learning on our new Bordon development,” says Dimmick. “His enthusiasm and willingness to help others has made him a stand out student – he’s now at the stage where he can mentor others doing work experience.”

The manager of the Future Skills Centre, Steve Gilder, also praises Jack’s success: “[He] has made an excellent start to his carpentry and joinery apprenticeship at the Future Skills Centre. His work as a mentor to current students, while they complete work experience has been a tremendous help. It’s given them the confidence to be part of Barratt’s team when they are on site.”

Source

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