Apprenticeship quality and social mobility
- Good quality apprenticeships lead to improved employment and pay prospects, and enable apprentices to progress further in their careers and education. Their quality arises from a shared understanding about and sustained commitment to ensuring the needs of both the employer and the apprentice are met. However, as this report shows, the current apprenticeship model and system of quality assurance are not fit for purpose. Although England has some very good quality apprenticeships, too many are failing to provide sufficient training and access to skilled work to enable participants to progress. Instead, the focus is still on boosting numbers rather than on the hard and sustained work required to improve quality.
- The segmentation of apprenticeship by level puts an artificial break on progression. There is no expectation that apprenticeship will enable progression to the next occupational or educational level. As the majority of apprenticeships are at level 2 and as the majority of apprentices under the age of 25 start their training below their existing level of educational attainment, many apprentices are treading water. This problem has been further entrenched by the IfA’s decision to remove qualifications from the new intermediate and advanced apprenticeship standards except in ‘special circumstances’.
- Existing employees are frequently ‘converted’ into apprentices. They comprise two thirds of apprentices, making apprenticeship a largely ‘adult’ programme. The apprenticeship levy may encourage more ‘conversions’ as a way for large employers to reclaim their money. As it is based on pay-roll, it will also raise more money in London and the South East of England and so may contribute to further regional inequality.
Apprenticeships for young people in England: Is there a payoff?
- About 17% of 16-year-olds in 2003 started an apprenticeship by the age of 28. About 60% of these are classified as an ‘intermediate’ apprenticeship (or level 2) with the remainder mainly ‘advanced’ apprenticeships (or level 3). Most people starting an apprenticeship achieve a highest level of qualification at either level 2 (equivalent to GCSE) or level 3 (equivalent to A-level). However, just 17% of this cohort who started an intermediate apprenticeship progressed to an advanced apprenticeship, though this has risen to approximately 25% more recently.
- There is strong concentration of men and women within different apprenticeship sectors. For intermediate apprenticeships, most men are classified within Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies (21%), Construction Planning and the Built Environment (29%), Retail and Commercial Enterprise (17%) or Business, Administration and Law (13%). For advanced apprenticeships, there is even more concentration, as 53% of men are classified as within Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies and 26% are within Construction, Planning and the Built Environment. For women doing intermediate apprenticeships, the biggest sectors are Health, Public Services and Care (22%), Retail and Commercial Enterprise (37%) and Business, Administration and Law (32%).
- Those starting an apprenticeship are more likely than average to be white and to speak English as a first language. Although the number of apprenticeships has increased over time, this has not changed. Furthermore, those from disadvantaged backgrounds – especially men – are less likely to start an apprenticeship. The percentage of disadvantaged men who start advanced apprenticeships is the same as those with university degrees. For this cohort, the percentage of men and women with an advanced apprenticeship who were eligible to receive free school meals when at school is 7% and 11% respectively. This compares to 12% and 14% – for men and women respectively – who start an intermediate apprenticeship. The average person in the cohort eligible to receive free school meals when at school is 14%.
- After controlling for factors including prior attainment, secondary school attended, demographics and experience, results show a positive earnings differential from starting an apprenticeship in many contexts. After taking account of factors we can observe – at the age of 28, men who start an apprenticeship earn 23% more than those who left school with only GCSEs and roughly 16% more than those who left education with a level 2 vocational qualification. For women, those who start an apprenticeship earn 15% more than those who left school with only GCSEs and about 4% more than those who left education with a level 2 qualification. For those educated up to level 3, men who start an apprenticeship earn about 37% more than those who left education with A-levels (and did not progress any further) and women about 9% more. This is mainly driven by the sector of apprenticeship – men are more prominent in higher paying sectors. It is disturbing that women enter sectors with much poorer prospects and that the situation hasn’t changed over the last ten years.