From education to employment

Are #apprenticeships fit for the future?

6 years on since the publication of the Richard Review, which ushered in a new approach to developing and delivering apprenticeships, Tom interviews Chinara Rustamova, Senior Policy Advisor Education and Skills, Federation of Small Businesses; and Charlotte Bosworth, Managing Director, Innovate Awarding / Chair, End-Point Assessment Operational Group, Federation of Awarding Bodies.

This week on #SkillsWorld, Tom Bewick, Charlotte Bosworth and Chinara Rustamova tackle the issue of England’s apprenticeship reforms.

6 years on since the publication of the Richard Review, which ushered in a new approach to developing and delivering apprenticeships, Tom interviews Chinara Rustamova, Senior Policy Advisor Education and Skills, Federation of Small Businesses; and Charlotte Bosworth, Managing Director, Innovate Awarding / Chair, End-Point Assessment Operational Group, Federation of Awarding Bodies. 

Apprenticeship starts have plummeted by around 20 per cent since the introduction of the Levy and new Standards. Non-Levy small businesses are struggling to access funding for the apprenticeship slots that they are prepared to offer. 

“Providing 20 per cent off the job training is a real challenge for small businesses… We need to sort the looming challenge of the funding issue”, according to Chinara Rustamova, who authored the FSB’s report, ‘Fit for the Future: Making the Apprenticeship System Work for Small Businesses’. 

On the challenges faced by end-point assessment organisations (EPAOs), Charlotte Bosworth said: “We need to come together, employers, providers, EPAOs — to come up with a better, more collaborative approach, to delivering high-quality apprenticeships.”

Topics covered include: 

  • The barriers faced by small firms taking on apprentices 
  • The collapse of 16-24 year old apprentices and what can be done about it
  • Controversy about Level 2 business administration apprenticeships no longer being available 
  • Whether it is immoral to allow senior managers to access the Apprenticeship Levy to pay for Management degrees 
  • The future of the Levy
  • What is required to make a success of the end-point assessment model 
  • Views from small businesses about the government’s new T-Level programme and awareness levels 

Subscribe to the #SkillsWorld podcast series or visit the #SkillsWorld Newsroom on FE News to keep up to date with Tom’s latest quest into the Skills World.


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