Partner Article

Apprenticeship take up doubles

Apprenticeship starts have almost doubled in the past two years, according to statistics released by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Figures have broken through the half a million mark, after 520,600 people started on an apprenticeship programme in 2011/12.

These figures represent a 13.9% rise year-on-year, and a significant 86.1% increase since 2009/10.

Regionally, apprenticeship take up was fairly evenly spread with a range between 11% and 15% across the country.

Engineering programmes saw a considerable increase, with a 21.5% rise in take up to 59,480 people.

Additionally, higher apprenticeship growth was particularly strong with a 67.6% rise, which relates to take up on schemes where participants receive a Higher Education certificate on completion of the course.

The Government attributed this rise to its £25m investment into the Higher Education Fund in July 2011, which it said will result in 29 projects and 20,000 more apprenticeship placements before 2014.

Business Secretary, Vince Cable, commented: “Whenever I speak to businesses, a lack of trained workers is a frequent concern.

“Today’s figures mean we are starting to turn the tide. Over half a million people took up an apprenticeship last year, showing that our investment in vocational skills is paying off.

“I am particularly pleased to see the high number of people studying engineering. We have a massive shortage of engineering skills in this country, and we need even more to support manufacturing, exports and infrastructure.”

Michael Hancock, Skills Minister, added: “Apprenticeships are vital to the Government’s drive to create a more highly skilled workforce who are better able to compete in the global race.

“This big increase in higher apprenticeships is giving people the opportunity to follow work-based pathways into professional careers in engineering, the legal sector and accountancy, while earning.

“This is a result of our determination to put vocational education on a par with academic learning, and we are developing this further in 2013 by extending apprenticeships to include graduate and post-graduate level learning.

“We are strengthening apprenticeships to make them more rigorous, and to respond to the ever-changing needs of the modern workplace.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .