In the first three months of 2025, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) indicated that there were 923,000 people aged 16 to 24 who were neither working nor learning in the UK.
Boost opportunities for young people
Since Labour came to power, they have made significant changes to the UK’s apprenticeship system as part of their Plan for Change. Their focus was to address current gaps in the workforce, tackling skill shortages and boosting opportunities for young people. But with 2025 continuing to deliver a raft of changes, there is a concern that no one is addressing the real problem with apprenticeships – and that is the poor design of the apprenticeship levy.
In February, the government cut red tape to facilitate more apprenticeships and boost economic growth. They estimated an additional 10,000 would be created by introducing shorter and more flexible apprenticeships (8 months instead of 12 months) and giving employers more flexibility over maths and English requirements.
Apprenticeship Levy Restrictions
Whilst last month, a £3bn overhaul of apprenticeship funding, aimed at increasing possibilities for young people and reducing skills shortages, was announced. Aimed at introducing an additional 30,000 apprenticeships during the current parliament, the new measures, which will come into force from January 2026, will see employers only able to use apprenticeship levy funds to support level 7 (master’s level) for existing apprentices and those aged 16-21, under new reforms.
But whilst this is good news for younger people, for those aged 22 and over, (the average age of a level 7 ICAEW apprentice) there are fears that they will effectively be locked out financially from accessing higher-level work-based training and could risk undermining the breadth and ambition of the apprenticeship offer. Some critics said that instead of boosting youth participation it might have a negative impact on organisations, the skills pipeline and the health of the wider economy.
Futureproof your workforce
Other efforts to enhance the success of the apprenticeship system include:
- 32% increase to The Immigration Skills Charge (ISC). This is a fee that UK employers must pay when sponsoring skilled workers from overseas under specific visa routes.
- Announcement of 120,000 new training opportunities for young people in construction and healthcare
- Launch of 13 new level 2 construction courses for adults in non-devolved areas through the Free Courses for Jobs project
- Allocation of £14m in adult skills funding for the construction sector to local mayors to support up to 5,000 additional adult learners in construction training courses
- Additional £136m for skills bootcamps in various priority sectors in 2025-26, providing training to more than 40,000 learners
- Extra £100m over four years to expand construction skills bootcamps, and the establishment of 10 technical excellence colleges in September, focusing on construction skills
Caroline Robertson from ActifHR said. “For any employers who would like to effectively engage with the apprenticeship system, we can help you to understand your responsibilities, how to access funding, find suitable training providers, put together policies and procedures and use the apprenticeship service account to manage funding and recruit apprentices.”
Caroline continued. “If you would like to leverage the benefits of the apprenticeship system in your business so you can help to build a skilled workforce and improve your business operations, please email caroline.robertson@actifhr.co.uk.”