Public sector apprenticeships in England: 2017 to 2018

There is a 2.3% starts target for the public sector over the course of this Parliament. Sector response to the publication of public sector apprenticeship data:

Jonathan Mitchell, who oversees the development of new apprenticeships at the Institute for Apprenticeships, said:

“We are delighted to see significant progress being made with apprenticeships in the public sector.

“It is encouraging to see that the armed services are leading the way. We have been working closely with them and also the NHS to help boost their use of new apprenticeships (standards).

“Apprenticeships are a great way to ensure high quality training while closing the national skills gap. We already have more apprenticeship options through new standards than other countries with highly established systems such as Germany and Switzerland. The Institute is working with employers to develop an even wider variety of new apprenticeships to serve both the public and private sector.” 

Mark Dawe, Chief Executive, Association of Employment and Learning Providers, said:

“Ofsted reported last week that government departments in Whitehall aren’t releasing their staff for off-the-job training and we constantly hear from public sector employers that the 20% rule is posing them real challenges, especially in terms of staff backfill to enable releases to happen.  This isn’t just a public sector issue and ministers must now accept the select committee’s recommendation that the rule should be flexed up.  For example, any teaching of English and maths should count towards it.”

Stephen Evans, Chief Executive, Learning and Work Institute, said:

“It’s good to see these data published and the progress being made in many parts of the public sector to increase the number of apprenticeships. Of course there is still further to go to meet the Government’s target, and this will be particularly challenging for public services facing further cuts to their budgets.

“However, at Learning and Work Institute we think that widening access and maximising quality matter more than the number of apprenticeship starts. We look forward to seeing the statistics on access due to be published in December, which will indicate whether public sector apprenticeships are opening up opportunities for historically under-represented groups.

“We also call for data to be published of the long-term impact of public sector apprenticeships on career and pay prospects for those undertaking them. The public sector should lead the way with a laser-like focus on quality and access as well as monitoring progression.”

Minister for Skills and Apprenticeships Anne Milton said:

“I am very pleased to see the number of apprenticeship starts rising in the public sector. I am particularly pleased to see that vital services like the NHS are doing well, and along with the Royal Navy are leading the way.

“With exciting apprenticeship opportunities available from nursing to policing to firefighting, there is something for everyone! I visited Leeds Teaching Hospital recently where I saw first-hand how apprenticeships have changed people’s lives and are helping to make sure the NHS can continue to get the skilled nurses they need. I want to see other public sector employers rising to the challenge so that more people can get the skills they need to get a good job and rewarding career.

“We want to see as many people as possible doing apprenticeships. We are working with employers to create more options. It’s great to see the latest figures showing that of all apprenticeship starts 43.7% are on our new high quality apprenticeship standards – that’s up from 4.8% this time last year.”

Further information:

• The range of high quality apprenticeships are growing with 350 apprenticeship standards now available for a wide variety of jobs from planning officers to agriculture to accountancy.
• New higher quality apprenticeship known as ‘standards’ represented 43.7% of total starts last year [may be use ‘in the latest published data’ or ‘reported so far for the 2017/18 academic year’?] This compares to apprenticeship standards representing 4.8% of starts in the equivalent point in 2016/17.
• The number of learners starting higher level apprenticeships in the provisional 2017/18 academic year was 46,900. This is an increase of 29.9% compared to 36,100 reported at the same point in 2016/17.
• 48.1% of apprenticeship starts since the levy was introduced have been levy-supported, which shows that employers are working well with the new system. In 2017/18 provisional full year there have been 179,900 levy-supported starts (48.7% of total starts), even though only around 2% of employers pay the levy. [In 2016/17 at this same reporting point there were 18,500 levy-supported starts (3.8% of total starts).
• Over 54% of starts in July 2018 reported so far were on the new, high-quality apprenticeship standards.
• We have put quality at the heart of apprenticeships. Old style apprenticeships known as ‘frameworks’ are being replaced, giving way to new high-quality employer-designed ‘standards’. From the start of the 2020/21 academic year, all new apprenticeship starts will be on standards. These changes are making sure that today’s apprenticeships reflect what business wants and needs

Public sector apprenticeships in England: 2017 to 2018

Statistics covering public sector apprenticeships in England in the first year of the target.

Documents

Public sector apprenticeships in England, 2017 to 2018: main commentary

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Details

Statistics taken from data provided by public sector organisations to the Department for Education.

The statistics cover public sector apprenticeships in England in the first year of the target, 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018.

For further information about this publication or to provide feedback, please contact:

Further education statistical dissemination team

Rick Baker
Department for Education
2 St Paul’s Place
125 Norfolk Street
Sheffield
S1 2FJ

Email[email protected]

Published 22 November 2018