Disadvantaged students risk being left behind by apprenticeships scheme, report finds

Government's approach to widening access is 'inadequate', committee says

Campaigners warn young women are being pushed into lower quality and less well-paid apprenticeships which have fewer opportunities to progress and carry on earning less than male counterparts for years after completing their apprenticeship (Getty)

Young people from disadvantaged communities risk being left behind by the government’s apprenticeships programme which has been “inadequate” in widening access, MPs have warned.

The proportion of apprenticeship starts among people from disadvantaged areas has fallen despite the government’s push to boost diversity, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) found.

In 2017-18, 22.6 per cent of new apprentices were from the most deprived local authority areas, compared with 25 per cent in 2015-16, the report by the cross-party group of MPs stated.

The government’s apprenticeship reforms are failing to deliver its aims and its approach to widening participation among under-represented groups has been “inadequate”, it said.

The Department for Education (DfE) is taking “far too long” to get to grips with the lack of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics apprenticeships, it added.

People from disadvantaged areas and minority groups risk being left behind and not reaping the benefits due to the government’s focus on higher-level apprenticeships, the report warned.

Overall, in the 2017-18 academic year, there were 375,800 apprenticeship starts. This was 26 per cent lower than the 509,400 starts in 2015-16, before the apprenticeship levy was introduced.

Since April 2017, employers with an annual pay bill of more than £3m have been required to pay an apprenticeship levy of 0.5 per cent of the bill.

The government is "very unlikely" to meet its target of three million apprenticeship starts by March next year, the report said.

"Ultimately, the lack of progress has disrupted the direction of the programme," said PAC chair Meg Hillier. "The way the programme is evolving is out of kilter with the department's objectives; opportunities for people with lower skills are diminishing and apprenticeship starts in disadvantaged communities have fallen.

"What's more, take-up from under-represented groups has been too low. We are supportive of the programme's core objective to draw apprentices from a wider range of social and demographic groups, but this is at complete odds with its unambitious targets.”

Ms Hillier, who is calling on the DfE to realign the programme with its initial objectives to ensure no one miss out, added that the “poor execution” of the programme had created long-term problems.

But Anne Milton, apprenticeships and skills minister, said apprenticeships were "now longer, higher quality and have more off-the-job training - a point the PAC acknowledges."

She added: We are increasing the numbers of people with learning disabilities or from BAME backgrounds starting apprenticeships. We have projects aimed at helping people from disadvantaged areas to achieve an apprenticeship with all the benefits it provides.

“There is still work to be done, but we won’t sacrifice quality for quantity and I’m thrilled that the number of people starting on our new high-quality apprenticeships has risen by 79 per cent in the first half of 2018-19 compared to the same period last year.”

The Department for Education said it was considering the recommendations and will respond in due course.