Barriers such as low wages and minimum grade entry requirements are continuing to drive down the numbers of people starting apprenticeships, an expert has said in the wake of new government figures.
The statistics, released on 12 October, show that for the 2022-2023 academic year apprenticeship starts were down by 4.6%, to 275,630, compared with the 288,800 reported for the same period in the previous year.
Starts reported so far for August and September 2022 (18,610 and 71,960) were lower than those reported at the same period in 2021 (14.7% and 11.9% lower respectively), while the starts in October 2022 (41,790) were 15.6% higher.
Between November and July, monthly starts were more in line with those seen at the same period the previous year. The 18,790 starts reported for July 2023 were 5.2% higher than the 17,860 reported for July 2022.
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Higher apprenticeships continued to grow in 2022/23. Starts increased by 6.1% to 93,670 compared with 88,240 in the same period last year, and starts at Level 6 and 7 increased by 9.3% to 41,340 in 2022/23. This represents 15.0% of all starts reported to date for 2022/23.
There were 37,810 Level 6 and 7 starts in the same period last year (13.1% of starts in the same period).
Starts supported by apprenticeship levy funds accounted for 67% (184,570).
For Dr Lisa Morrison Coulthard, National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) director on education to employment and social mobility, the figures were a disappointment. She said: “The continued decline in apprenticeship starts among young people and people from disadvantaged backgrounds of all ages is a concerning indicator that barriers, including low wages and minimum grade entry requirements, persist.
“The introduction of the apprenticeship levy in 2017 sought to promote apprenticeships as a pathway into employment via sustainable funding. The new data shows that by 2022/23 around two-thirds of all apprenticeship starts were levy funded, increasing to four in five higher apprenticeship starts.
“However, with fewer disadvantaged and younger learners accessing this levy, they are potentially missing out on the benefits offered by this funding.
“The government should commission a review of the long-term decline in 16-19-year-old apprenticeship starts, and the sustained under-representation of apprenticeship starts from disadvantaged young people. In particular, the apprenticeship levy should be redesigned to ringfence funding for 16 to18-year-old apprentices.”
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