Antony Jenkins is formally appointed chair of the Institute for Apprenticeships

Antony Jenkins has officially appointed the chair of the Insitute of Apprenticeships. He was previously the Shadow Chair since June 2016, where he has been an ambassador for the institute and has played a key role in designing its structure and providing strategic leadership and direction to the organisation during the critical phase of its development.

Antony Jenkins will operate alongside the 8 members of the board primarily made up of employers appointed to run the institute in January.

Antony Jenkins is Founder and Executive Chair of 10x Future Technologies Ltd. He is Group Chairman of Currencies Direct and a board member of Blockchain.

In addition to his role at the institute, Antony is also Chairman of Business in the Community. He was previously the Group CEO of Barclays PLC for 3 years until July 2015.

Apprenticeships and Skills Minister Robert Halfon said about the permanent appointment:

“Our reforms to apprenticeships are all about quality, quality, quality. We do not just want 3 million apprenticeships by 2020, we want 3 million quality apprenticeships.

“The Institute for Apprenticeships is a key part of this – we have put employers at the heart of apprenticeships because it is employers who know the skills, training and experience their future workforce needs to succeed. This is essential to ensuring social mobility and that people can get their foot on the ladder of opportunity.

“Antony has done a brilliant job as Shadow Chair of the institute and will continue bringing his expertise and knowledge to the role of Chair.”

Launching in April this year, the Institute for Apprenticeships will support the government’s agenda on social mobility by helping to create a ladder of opportunity based on quality apprenticeships for people across the country.

The primary responsibility of the new organisation will be to act as decision maker on approving apprenticeship standards and assessment plans to ensure they are of high quality. Its ultimate goal being to ensure employees get the skills they need to succeed from the apprenticeship system”.

Chair of the Institute for Apprenticeships Antony Jenkins said:

“I am delighted to be appointed on a permanent basis to this important role. I have enjoyed working with ministers and the shadow institute to get ready for our launch in April and am pleased with the progress we have made. The institute, supported by an able board, has a crucial role to play in helping develop the skills that employers need and supporting social mobility by ensuring people have the right skills to succeed.

“It’s vital that we prepare people for the changes technology is having on the way we live and work. I believe businesses have an interest in and an obligation to create opportunities for people to acquire the skills needed to cope in a fast-changing working environment”.

Full details of how the Institute for Apprenticeships will operate have also been set out in an operational plan which is currently out for consultation.

Following consultation, the plan will set out how the Institute for Apprenticeships will deliver its functions to:

• improve the quality of apprenticeships
• regulate the quality of apprenticeship standards and assessment plans
• provide advice to government on the pricing of apprenticeship standards
• establish how the Institute will collaborate with partners to drive quality across the apprenticeships system
• gain more information and insight on how we will lead the reforms to technical education