Government reforms (2): Apprenticeships

A new Ofsted report (available here and here) has found that many of the courses on offer are failing to give learners the skills and knowledge employers are looking for. Apparently the drive to create more apprenticeships has diluted their quality. The report has found that the Government’s ambition to boost apprenticeships and create a higher skilled workforce is being undermined, due to factors such as:

• The growth in apprenticeships over the last eight years not focusing sufficiently on the sectors with skills shortages. Instead, the increase has been mainly in the customer service, retail, administration and care sectors;

• The quality of apprenticeship provisions being too variable and often failing to provide sufficient training to develop new skills; and

• Employers, especially small and medium-sized businesses, being slow to get involved in designing programs and developing standards or in taking on apprentices.