Is Avoiding English and Maths in Apprenticeships a Good Idea? FE Soundbite 784

Welcome to FE Soundbite Edition 784: 15th February 2025 | NAW25: Is avoiding English and Maths in Apprenticeships a good idea?| FE Soundbite 784

This is the weekly e-newsletter and e-journal by FE News: ISSN 2732-4095. We know life is busy, so here is a snapshot of the latest announcements and epic thought leadership articles from sector influencers and cool thinkers across FE and Skills this week on FE News

Gavin’s Reflective Perspective

Happy NAW! Wow, a Big Week of Major announcements in Apprenticeships. Literally one per day. Dr Corin Egglestone, Deputy Head of Research, Learning and Work Institute on Monday asked for More Details Needed, Please on Apprenticeships and Get Britain working. Well he got a few answers this week!

Skills England Top Brass are announced – and a Job Share CEO!

First up, the Top Brass have been announced at Skills England, and I’m genuinely excited about something really cool here – a Job Share CEO for Skills England! Now I love this. Not many SMEs, let alone large corporates, have a job-share CEO, so to have a job-share CEO for Skills England is incredibly encouraging. We knew flexibilities were coming in Apprenticeships, but with a job share for the Skills England CEO role, this is living it and I hope this trickles down from the top, through Skills England and out into the workforce. Love this.

Shorter Apprenticeships and Functional Skills / English and Maths

Now, speaking of flexibilities, here’s where it gets really interesting – and if I’m honest, a bit concerning.

Apprenticeships will have a minimum duration will be reduced to eight months, down from the current minimum of 12 months. Is this a good thing?

The announcements about shorter Apprenticeships and dropping Functional Skills/English and Maths requirements for adults have got me thinking. Now removing barriers is a great thing.. avoiding them altogether is a different thing!

These changes are to help target key shortage areas including construction, healthcare and social care. Erm, where Maths is kind of essential.. eg number of bricks to build a house, the ratio of sand and cement, the volume of drugs or number of pills you or your loved one is to take. Maths here is kinda important!

Interestingly the next day, the CITB released a report finds that Apprenticeship Starts Need to Triple to Meet Industry Demand. So something needs to be done. Shorter duration Apprenticeships will help with this… but in construction, Maths in particular is very important to the job (ever seen a wall with the incorrect ratio of sand and cement)? .. if you haven’t, it is probably because it has fallen down!

Big part of the flexibilities is English and Maths… I am not sure this is a wise long term move. According to the release from DfE “Businesses will now be able to decide whether adult learners over the age of 19 when they start their apprenticeship course will need to complete a level 2 English and maths qualification”. If Employers do want help with this, will it be clear to a busy employer how they will access the additional Level 2 support?

UK’s Literacy and Numeracy is already really low! So are we just going to ignore this?

The UK’s adult Literacy and Numeracy rate is well known to be very low – According to the recent OECD survey – 8.5 million adults in England could benefit from improved essential skills! So is this such a great thing to avoid?

Tom Burton wrote a brilliant article this week on Apprenticeship Reforms: Breaking Barriers or Lowering Standards? Tom shared first hand on his own personal journey, but the journey from Key Skills (remember them) to Functional Skills.

I also get it. I know English and Maths GCSE / Functional Skills for adults Apprentices seems like a pain (I wooped for joy when I found my old Skool Brown Record of Achievement and my GCSE results – and my retake pass grade for Maths!). Funnily enough Tom mentions that he had to add in English on his L7 in his article as well. This is a big deal.

However, some things are essential, and as we step into the 4th industrial revolution, the reliance on AI will be higher, but we need those foundational skills and knowledge for essential critical thinking. Apprenticeships are supposed to be employer-led. Will employers want Apprentices who need support in English and Maths?… Will the employer know how to ask for additional support for their staff to receive it?

End Point Assessment Changes:

The EPA changes also look promising – making the system simpler and more flexible. This has to be good for the employer and Apprentice: apprentices don’t have to be re-tested on the same skills they have already demonstrated, such as by taking a mandatory industry exam, to avoid wasting apprentices’ time. We need to be streamlined, not having learners stuck!

AoC’s David Hughes highlighted a great point: with 43% of colleges experiencing three-month-plus delays for apprentices to complete their EPA, and costs eating up 13% of annual apprenticeship income, these changes could really help reduce bureaucracy and put the focus back where it belongs – on supporting apprentices.

New Research Shows Apprenticeships now Contribute £25bn to England’s Economy

I loved Ben Rowland (CEO of AELP’s) article. From my perspective, what’s particularly fascinating is Ben Rowland’s analysis of the ROI on Apprenticeships. Did you know Apprenticeships at Level 4 and 5 have a ROI of £16 for every £1 invested, and at Level 6 (Degree Apprenticeships) the ROI jumps to £25 for every £1 invested?

Then literally the next day DfE released New Research Shows Apprenticeships now Contribute £25bn to England’s Economy.

With these impressive returns from Apprenticeships, and currently unspent Levy funds going back to Treasury (and getting spent elsewhere), surely this makes the case for greater investment in Apprenticeships and Skills – maybe supporting SMEs and helping reduce NEETs?

Big picture – 10,000 more Apprentices could be signed up per year. Shorter Apprenticeships, if it covers everything and is intense, then great. Learners and employers don’t want things padded out or take too long. To help this we have seen the EPA changes as well to speed things up… I think this is great, but as long as the learner and the employer receive everything they need in that shorter window.

If the UK’s Literacy and Numeracy on a global scale is low, surely we need to continue to support this, and not ignore it. Personally, I think the Functional Skills needs to be supported, not avoided. What do you think?

Anyway, I hope you had a great NAW.. FE Soundbite is rammed full of great articles this week, so I hope you enjoy Soundbite this week!

Epic Exclusives Thought Leadership Articles

Our Top 3 Thought Leadership Articles This Week

Firstly, Apprenticeships and the Plan to Get Britain Working – More Details Needed, Please! By Dr Corin Egglestone, Deputy Head of Research, Learning and Work Institute

Secondly, Apprenticeship Reforms: Breaking Barriers or Lowering Standards? By Thomas Burton, Head of Apprenticeship Delivery, York St John University

Finally, Investing in Success: How Apprenticeships can Drive a Skills Revolution By Alison Morris, Head of Policy, Skills Federation

This week, we also had some other Epic Exclusives!

Management Apprenticeships: A Route to Unlocking Economic Growth By Petra Wilton, Director of Policy and External Affairs at the Chartered Management Institute (CMI)

A Skills-Centric Model – Redefining the Role of Skills By Nichola Hay MBE, Director of Apprenticeships Strategy and Policy, BPP

Evaluating the Impact and Efficacy of a Decade of Degree Apprenticeships By Olly Newton, Executive Director, Edge Foundation

Investing in Apprenticeships: A Missed Opportunity for Economic Growth By Ben Rowland, CEO of AELP

Unseen Observation: A Journey from Traditional to Trust-Based Teaching By David Turner, Assistant Principal for Quality and Sarah Cattell, Workforce Development and Innovation Manager at Walsall College. 

Ambition Realised at Scale: Empowering Everyone Through Apprenticeships By Andy Hall, Skills and Technical Education Senior Manager, The Careers & Enterprise Company 

Time to change course on Education for Women in Prison By Annick Platt is  Director of Operations for national prison education provider Novus

AI in Assessments – What’s in Store for 2025 By Dr. Rajeshwari Iyer, Co-Founder & CEO at sAInaptic

What’s New in the World of FE?

Announcement

2025 Reform: 10,000 More Apprenticeship Places as English and Maths Rules Change – With Exclusive Quote from Jacqui Smith By Department for Education (DfE)

2025 Reform: Apprenticeship System Simplified with Payment and EPA Changes By Department for Education (DfE)

Skills England Appointments Confirmed By Department for Education (DfE)

Reports

45% of UK Adults have Experienced Workplace Discrimination By Ciphr

Voices

Why Apprenticeships Are Key To Closing The AI Skills Gap Jenny Taylor MBE, UK Lead of Early Professional Programmes, IBM

Dive into Law: How Solicitor Apprenticeship Programmes Unlock a new Career Path By Saheer Syed and Tommy Hugaas, both Linklaters’ Solicitor Apprentices,

The Role of the Education Sector and Apprenticeships in Bridging the Regional Skills Divide By Sheila Flavell CBE, COO of FDM Group

How Degree Apprenticeships can help to get Workers with Lifelong Skills By Steven Hurst, Director of Corporate Learning at Arden University

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We hope you enjoy FE Soundbite this week. Stay curious, keep innovating, and let’s shake up the world of FE together – catch you next week!

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