Karen Jones, the group HR director at housebuilder Redrow, said:
“It is very positive to see apprenticeship starts for the academic year rising by almost 7% annually, however, this must be assessed against a wider backdrop which shows that uptake is down by more than 26% on 2016/17 figures reported before the apprenticeship levy was introduced. Apprentices are a vital component for ensuring the success of our economy and are an essential cog in powering construction SMEs today.
“As a clear champion of the apprenticeship route into the workplace it was unfortunate to see Anne Milton step down as Education Minister earlier this week. But we welcome both Jo Johnson and Gavin Williamson to their new roles within education and hope to see further government support for the sector and apprentices more specifically. The apprentices of today could go on to become the business leaders of the future. For that to happen however, the construction industry in particular must have greater collaboration with government and schools to ensure the next generation are receiving the best possible advice and support to appropriately kick-start their careers. Currently, just 21% of the 16-21-year-olds we recently surveyed stated that they received high-quality careers advice, information and guidance on a wide range of careers so it is clear there is a lot more that still needs to be done to make this an attractive career path.”
Apprenticeship and levy statistics: July 2019
- There have been 336,900 apprenticeship starts reported to date between August 2018 and May 2019 for the 2018/19 academic year.
- This compares to 315,900 reported in the equivalent period in 2017/18, with 457,200 reported in 2016/17.
- Of the 336,900 apprenticeship starts reported so far in 2018/19, 62.1 per cent (209,300) were on apprenticeship standards.
Read Redrow’s latest report ‘Apprenticeships and SMEs in the UK’ here