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Report published assessing the first year of the apprenticeship levy

printer Mail

The think tank Reform has published a report, The great training robbery: assessing the first year of the apprenticeship levy, assessing the first year of the apprenticeship levy.

The think tank Reform has published a report, The great training robbery: assessing the first year of the apprenticeship levy, assessing the first year of the apprenticeship levy. The report states that the apprenticeship levy is ‘ too complicated for employers’ and has ‘diminished the quality of apprenticeships’, with 40% of the new apprenticeships being low-skilled jobs designed by employers as apprenticeships ‘in name only’, while still allowing employers to qualify for subsidies.

The report recommends:

  • abandoning the target of 3m apprenticeships by 2020, so as to focus on apprenticeship quality instead;
  • introducing a new internationally-benchmarked definition of an apprenticeship;
  • removing the requirement for 10% employment co-investment towards the cost of training apprentices, to avoid employers disengaging from apprenticeships;
  • replacing the existing HMRC digital payment system with a simpler ‘apprenticeship voucher’ model; and
  • making the exam regulator Ofqual the only option for quality assuring at the end-point assessments for apprentices to ensure standards are maintained over time.
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