Apprentices can master their future

The Government hopes that soon a quarter of young people will be involved in modern apprenticeships. Caitlin Davies reports on a scheme that has had successes but is yet to fulfil its potential

Leaving school at 16 might seem like a good idea if you can get a job. But a job without training or qualifications could be a dead end – which is where modern apprenticeships come in. They're part of a government scheme that allows young people to earn while they learn.

The choice of apprenticeships is vast: from plumbing to health and beauty therapy, from broadcasting to sports-car engineering. And the only requirements are that you live in England, are aged 16-24 and are not in full-time education.

Modern apprenticeships (MAs) not only aim to reform training for young people, but are meant to address Britain's massive skills shortage. They sound a good idea – with the backing of schools, colleges, parents and unions – so why isn't the scheme working as well as it could? Many young people, like Michael Barrow, who works in the motor industry, praise the scheme because it allows them to earn a wage from the start. Isobel Pearce's MA has meant the chance to study chemical engineering at university. But there remain problems in the quality of the MAs on offer, and a reluctance of some businesses to get involved.

MAs have been around for years but were officially relaunched in November. The scheme falls under the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), established two years ago and responsible for post-16 education. "The crucial benefit is that people who don't want to stay in full-time education can do an apprenticeship that means real work with real training," says Ian Ferguson, the director of the MA initiative at the LSC. "I'd say about 30 per cent of young people want this."

The LSC's vision is that by 2010 young people in England will have "knowledge and productive skills matching the best in the world". So far the scheme is working best in industries with a tradition of apprentices, particularly engineering. There are now about 242,000 modern apprentices, and the Government wants 28 per cent of all young people involved.

Under the MA initiative the employer pays the apprentice's wages – a minimum of £40 a week. Apprentices work towards a National Vocational Qualification, receive Technical Certificates, and are taught key skills such as communication and information technology. There are two levels, Foundation and Advanced. Most people take the Foundation level, which takes at least 18 months to complete and leads to NVQ level two (equivalent to five GCSEs).

The Advanced level means the apprentice is aiming for a technical, supervisory or junior management role. The training lasts at least two years and leads to NVQ level three (equivalent to two A-levels). The Advanced level is often used as a stepping stone to university.

Proponents of the MA scheme are keen to stress that it is more structured, rigorous and in depth than the old Youth Training Scheme. But researcher Lorna Unwin points out that it is simply a continuation of 20 years of youth training policies. Unwin, the Professor of vocational education at Leicester University's centre for labour market studies, is concerned that MA training providers (such as colleges of further education and private organisations) are the same as those on previous schemes.

When MAs came in the idea was that more employers would be involved and this, says Unwin, has not happened. Instead the training providers still manage the system. But to Unwin the major problem is that governments – past and current – have been loath to regulate. This means that, unlike in other European countries, there's no law covering the length of the apprenticeship or off-job training, and no penalties either. In industries without a tradition of apprentices, such as business administration, hospitality, health and social care, some young people are placed with employers who think the MA can last a few months.

An estimated 30 per cent of apprentices drop out of the MA programme. Yet many remain with employers who have decided that the completion of some of the NVQ units means the young person has enough skills for now. "Some people say that's fine because the apprentice has a job," says Unwin, "but it's not fine because that young person has been short-changed."

The TUC backs the scheme as long as it means real training and a decent job at the end. But Frances O'Grady, the deputy general secretary, has concerns. One is that nearly all the construction MAs go to boys and nearly all the retail and hairdressing MAs to girls. Girls appear to be less likely to progress from Foundation to Advanced level, possibly because the retail and hospitality industries offer less progression. Another concern is that young black people aren't getting the same access to prestigious MAs, where employers invest time and money in training and take on as many apprentices as they will employ afterwards.

The National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education also supports the MA scheme. But Dan Taubman, a national official, says MA standards vary too much and British industries are reluctant to invest in the long term.

The Association of Colleges believes that, overall, MAs are good for young people, but quality manager Maggie Scott is critical of the way key skills are addressed. Indeed key skills are a major bone of contention, with difficulties in both delivery and testing.

Scott says it's hard to get many small- and medium-sized businesses to see the benefits of training, especially when they have time and staff constraints and when they need to provide on-site assessment. "Employers must change their perception," says Scott. "Do they recognise that training will improve their bottom line?"

While the Government pays for the modern apprentice's training, many businesses are still not taking advantage of the scheme. "How can employers be coaxed to be proactive when it comes to skills training?" asks Nadine Cartner, the head of policy at the Association of College Managers. She says MAs are a good idea in principle, but one major issue is how to bring business and skills training together.

In recent years government attention has focused on getting young people into higher education. Eric Morgan, the head of engineering, construction and computer technology at Bradford College, feels the tide may be about to turn. With student debts and a lack of jobs for graduates, young people may look to apprenticeships again.

'They offered me more than i'd expected'

Twenty-one-year-old Pippa Lodge always loved motor sport, but didn't know how to get a job, let alone train. When she wrote to Hewland Engineering, inventors of the bespoke racing car gearbox, she hoped they would take her as a trainee: "They offered me a modern apprenticeship. It was more than I'd expected."

Lodge has been an MA for 18 months, pursuing the Advanced level and aiming for a Higher National Certificate. She spends a few months in each section at Hewland in Berkshire and has enjoyed fitting the best.

Lodge supervisor Harry Walker, himself left school at 15 and became an apprentice. He is in charge of five apprentices, and is about to choose two more from a shortlist of six drawn up by West Berkshire Training Consortium.

For a company with just 150 people the apprentice numbers are quite impressive. Walker says apprentices stay loyal to the company, with Hewland's eldest apprentice now working in the design office and Lodge keen to stay on as well.

"It's very difficult to find skilled people on the open market," says Walker. "We needed something like this so we can teach in-house."

education@independent.co.uk