Call for Evidence

This submission is in response to the Demos Commission on Apprenticeships call for evidence.

Background

The Association of Colleges (AoC) represents and promotes the 336 Colleges in England incorporated under the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, including 243 Further Education Colleges and 93 Sixth Form Colleges. Colleges educate 834,000 people aged 16 to 18, almost twice as many as school sixth forms. Colleges also train an additional 70,000 apprentices aged 16-18.

  1. In light of the Government’s implementation of the Richard Review proposals, what will be the outstanding challenges for Apprenticeships policy in the future?
  • It is difficult to know the full extent of the challenges ahead, but the identified problems can be grouped into the following categories:
  • Governance – in order to prevent perverse activity, it is important to clarify who is effectively in charge of the employer groups
  • Accountability –the current lines of accountability are called into questionwith funding being redirected to employers
  • Government control – control over the way in which government funding is directed and spent is significantly restricted in a system where employers are funded directly and will be left to the market place.
  1. To what extent is there a problem with the social status of Apprenticeships? How can this be overcome?
  • Due to Government and media promotion, apprenticeships are no longer viewed as being second class. However, there is still a problem with the negative perception of vocational study which is viewed as being unequal to academic study.
  • The need for parity between vocational and academic education is being misconstrued and as a result, there is a constant gravitational pull back in favour of the academic. For example, academic standards are being raised within apprentices to make them more appealing to those who traditionally would have undertaken A Levels and then gone on to study for a degree. Whilst this makes apprenticeships ‘feel’ the same as an academic route, it is arguably increasing choice for the academically able and reducing choice for those with a more vocational bias.
  • Instead, parity should be more about ensuring those undertaking vocational routes can get to the same level of work and income as those who follow an academic route and are not seen as less favourable.
  1. Do young people have access to the right information, advice, and routes into Apprenticeships? How can this be improved?
  • Informed, transparent and impartial careers advice is a crucial aide in determining the pathway young people take, and making them aware of the range of opportunities that are available, whether academic or vocational.
  • However there is widespread agreement that the careers advice currently on offer is inadequate. This has been confirmed by Ofsted, the Education Select Committee and a number of charitable and social organisations.Vocational training and apprenticeships in particular are rarely promoted effectively to students - especially by schools with their own sixth form.
  • In light of this, AoC are leading a campaign - Careers Guidance: Guaranteed which is calling on the Government to ensure that all young people have access to careers advice on post-14 education, training and employment options.
  • We are asking for this to be achieved by improved access in a locality where colleges, schools, universities, Jobcentre Plus and local authorities come together led by the LEP to form a clearly signposted careers hub. This would provide a single point of information for all careers advice and options in each area.
  • Alongside this,careers education needs to be introduced and embedded into the curriculum. This would give children and young people the right grounding to make informed decisions and the right choice for them. This education should include understanding different types of businesses, how stereotyping affects career decisions, the qualities needed to enhance employability and looking systematically at the choices available and what is required to for particular jobs. It should complement visits from local businesses and work experience placements.
  1. What are the key barriers to greater take-up of Apprenticeships amongst small businesses? How best can these barriers be removed?
  • The biggest barrier is a lack of knowledge of the apprenticeship offer;centrally we have yet to crack effective communication to small businesses.
  • As a small business the risk of taking on an apprentice is greater and the rewards are sometimes harder to identify. It is easier for a small business to employ an adult with experience as opposed to a young person new to the workplace.
  • It is also worth noting that in the new approach to apprenticeships, small businesses are likely to be charged more for their apprentices than larger firms which may result in further disengagement.
  1. How can the self-employed be better supported to become Apprentices?
  • It is hard to see how the self-employed can genuinely be apprentices as, by definition, they do not have a ‘master’ to learn from within the workplace. The structure of an apprenticeship would have to be altered to allow for this.
  • The points raised in question 4 with regards to small businesses also applies to the self-employed.
  1. How might more employers be encouraged to commit more funding and resources to Apprenticeships?
  • Apprentices are good for a particular sector but are not necessarily of direct benefit for an individual employer.
  • It may therefore be difficult to encourage further investment and resources for apprenticeships as employers need to be able to see a direct line between their investment in an apprentice and the benefit to their business.
  1. How might public money be used more efficiently when funding Apprenticeships?
  • There is a real risk that under the new system where funding is given directly to employers, the government will not be able to have real control over how money is spent effectively to ensure value for money.
  1. How might the education and training system be better able to deliver more high quality Apprenticeships? And adapt to changing skills needs in future?
  • The system needs to focus on pre-apprenticeship training which in turn will create more high quality apprenticeships.
  • Employers in most sectors are reticent about taking on a young apprentice who lack knowledge of the workplace, especially when there might be someone older, with more experience, available.
  • To address this increasing concern, an emphasis should be put on pre-apprenticeship training, specifically created to prepare 16 and 17-year-olds for a full apprenticeship in a workplace. This training should last two years, set at level 2 (GCSE equivalent) and include the soft skills so desperately needed by employers.
  1. How can a greater number of higher level Apprenticeships be encouraged? What is the role of the Higher Education sector in this?
  • There is a need to stop distinguishing between further education and higher education in this regard and instead encourage institutions working in the vocational area (i.e. colleges and universities) to work together to create seamless pathways of progression for apprentices.
  1. How can we ensure that the quality and quantity of Apprenticeships does not fall during future recessions?
  • A more immediate concern is ensuring that the quality and number of apprenticeships does not decline under the new system. The move towards employer ownership prevents any incoming government from effectively being able to influence the volume or type of apprenticeship delivery.