AELP has welcomed the basket of measures announced by the government today as part of a drive to make apprenticeships more attractive to employers. AELP has been at the forefront of advocating for these measures, including relaxing arbitrary maths and English requirements and introducing shorter apprenticeships. Maths and English skills are critical in work and in life, but AELP’s recent mini commission showed how damaging current policy has been for apprenticeship outcomes and participation.
Removing Functional Skills Qualifications as an exit requirement is a welcome step change in policy for adults and brings apprenticeships into line with other forms of education, none of which require English and maths qualifications to pass. It is welcome that these changes are immediate and in-year. This means thousands of adults currently stuck at the gateway stage because they cannot pass maths and/or English are now able to progress through and undertake their end point assessments.
However, at the same time, not relaxing requirements for 16-18 year old apprentices does risk making them less attractive to employers. AELP will continue to advocate for parity for young people and for sharper incentives for employers to take on the youngest apprentices.
The proposal to drop the minimum legal duration of an apprenticeship to eight months is another flexibility AELP welcomes. AELP has long argued that twelve months was too long, and time served is not a measure of quality. The new 8-month minimum limit will allow apprentices to get the career boost they need faster in priority sectors, allowing employers to harness their improved productivity faster, but critically also ensures apprenticeships remain substantial training programmes with apprentices needing to evidence they have achieved fully occupational competence in their job role. This will all help employers to get greater – and quicker – returns on their apprenticeship levy, to boost the growth so desperately needed for the whole economy.
Ben Rowland, Chief Executive of AELP, said:
“I welcome the proposed changes to functional skills requirements in apprenticeships. This is one of the biggest barriers providers, employers and apprentices face within the apprenticeship system, and has caused significant stress and missed opportunities for learners, meaning less progression and locking out many individuals from being able to access an apprenticeship opportunity. While good literacy and numeracy are important in work and life, it is right to remove this as an arbitrary requirement for adults. I am proud of the work the AELP team has done, to harness the insight and data from across our members, and to work with officials and stakeholders to secure the case for these changes.
The changes to the minimum duration of apprenticeships, something AELP has also long called for, are also most welcome and should help learners and employers access priority skills needed to boost their careers and boost their industry at shorter notice. Time served is not a measure of quality, and apprenticeships will still be substantial training programmes where apprentices will need to evidence full occupational competency but the flexibility allows providers and employers to lean into different delivery models that enable accelerated learning of new skills, knowledge and behaviour.”
AELP welcomes new apprenticeship flexibilities, including Functional Skills requirements
AELP has welcomed the basket of measures announced by the government today as part of a drive to make apprenticeships more attractive to employers. AELP has been at the forefront of advocating for these measures, including relaxing arbitrary maths and English requirements and introducing shorter apprenticeships. Maths and English skills are critical in work and in life, but AELP’s recent mini commission showed how damaging current policy has been for apprenticeship outcomes and participation.
