For many years apprenticeships have provided a great career pathway for thousands of young people who either didn’t want to go to university and be saddled with a huge debt and/or who wanted to combine real work with training and study for a specific role. More recently they have been referred to as a vital tool in tackling the UK’s persistent skills shortages.
Apprentices are paid employees, they get income, which they can use to help cover living expenses and/or offset any costs of their apprenticeship training. They also learn whilst they earn, get valuable on the job experience, build skills, experience and contacts, gain a nationally recognised qualification and more importantly, achieve financial independence sooner.
Fill skills gaps
According to available data, the number of apprenticeships in England has generally declined over time, with a significant drop occurring around 2017 due to the introduction of a new apprenticeship funding system, and further decline during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, recent data (2023/24) shows a slight increase on the previous year with 736,500 people participating in an apprenticeship in England, with 339,600 apprenticeship starts and 178,200 apprenticeship achievements.
But the accessibility of apprenticeships is about to change with the government announcing plans to reform the system with the aim to increase the number of apprentices by up to 10,000 per year, drive economic growth (fill skills gaps faster) and break the link between background and success.
There are two major areas that will change.
1. Under current rules, apprentices must achieve English and maths qualifications of at least level 1 if they are on a level 2 apprenticeship. For those who have already secured level 1 qualifications, the apprentices must be assessed at level 2 English and maths, and the requirement must be fulfilled before they take the end-point assessment. Whilst, if a learner is on a level 3 or higher apprenticeship, they must achieve a level 2 in both subjects before they can complete the apprenticeship.
The change, means that apprentices over the age of 19 are no longer required to undertake English and maths functional skills qualifications in order to complete their course. Instead employers have the flexibility to decide whether adult apprentices will need to complete a level 2 English and maths qualification – equivalent to GCSE – in order to pass their course.
The relaxation of this rule will hopefully allow more learners to qualify in high demand sectors like healthcare, social care and construction (house building), whilst also meaning that apprentices will be able to focus more on their paid work. The government believes that as many as 10,000 more apprentices per year will be able to unlock opportunities all over the country.
2. Currently apprenticeships last for a minimum of 12 months. Employers have said for years that shorter apprenticeships would help them to develop new talent more quickly, which would also be more cost-effective and of course improve productivity.
The proposed change, from August 2025, will see the minimum duration of an apprenticeship reduce from 12 to eight months. The government hopes that this will enable workers in shortage occupations – like green energy, healthcare, and film/TV production – to become trained sooner.
The government, together with employers are hoping that shorter apprenticeships and less red tape will strike the right balance between speed and quality and will help to not only fill the skills gap but also grow the economy.
How I can help
For advice and support when it comes to creating a successful apprenticeship programme including recruitment, training, management, policies and funding, please email caroline.robertson@actifhr.co.uk