Edge Release New Report on Government Changes to Apprenticeship Levy

The Edge Foundation release an innovative policy report today commenting on the new Government‘s commitments to replace the Apprenticeship Levy with a Growth and Skills Levy. In Flex Without Compromise: Preserving Apprenticeships for Young People Under a Growth and Skills Levy, Holly Papworth and Sorah Gluck set out Edge’s concerns that, unless the policy is carefully designed, this move could squeeze funding for apprenticeship opportunities – and the worrying decline of young people participating in apprenticeships, especially at lower levels, will continue.

The report identifies that the Growth and Skills Levy could also risk compromising the achievement of other Government policies and missions: the Youth Guarantee, for example (key to the Opportunity Mission), and the Growth Mission – as SMEs and industries integral to growth are most likely to lose out.

Edge Foundation CEO, Alice Gardner said,

“We know the Apprenticeship Levy has its faults – it isn’t working for employers large or small, nor for young people – and we’re glad the Government is taking these concerns seriously. But wholescale reform, unless carefully designed, as we set out, risks squeezing apprenticeship opportunities further still, at a time when we need to be seriously incentivising their growth, especially for young people and at entry levels.

“The Government and stakeholders need solutions right now. This new report sheds light on how we can lift the barriers preventing employers from taking on more apprentices, translate young people’s appetite into uptake and presents options for how the Government can design the Growth and Skills Levy with young people in mind.”

The report suggests modifications in the apprenticeship system that would make a substantial difference to employers’ ability to use their levy to create more, lower-level opportunities for young people.

These include:

• Building on best practice examples of brokerage and support for SMEs hiring apprentices;
• Maintaining the previous Government’s move to fully fund apprenticeship training in SMEs for under 22s, with evaluation of its impact on participation;
• Improving the advertising and application process for apprenticeships, so that all apprenticeships are properly advertised and prospective apprentices can make multiple applications more simply, in the same way undergraduates can apply for university through UCAS;
• Piloting a more modular apprenticeship model, allowing apprentices to ‘bank’ learning as they go, with ‘optional’ modules tailored to employers’ needs and/or learners’ interests.

The report also presents a series of options available to the Government and Skills England in considering the proportions of the levy that can be spent on non-apprenticeship skills training, the types of training courses that should be eligible for funding and who would benefit.

To read the report visit the Edge website.