News story

Package of measures unveiled to boost apprenticeships

The government today announced a package of reforms to ensure the Apprenticeship Levy provides people with the skills they need to succeed.

• From: HM Treasury and The Rt Hon Philip Hammond
• Published: 1 October 2018
• Last updated: 6 November 2018 — See all updates

This was published under the 2016 to 2019 May Conservative government

The government today (1 October 2018) announced a package of reforms to ensure the Apprenticeship Levy provides people with the skills they need to succeed.

The changes are aimed at providing flexibility for businesses so they can take full advantage of the benefits of employing apprentices, and to help as many people as possible find the right training to equip them for the new economy.

An extra £90 million of government funding will enable employers to invest a quarter of their apprenticeship funds on people working for businesses in their supply chain – boosting the number able to benefit from high-quality apprenticeship training.

A further £5 million was announced for the Institute for Apprenticeships to introduce new standards and updating existing ones so that more courses can be offered – meaning more choice for those considering their training options. The government will discontinue the old frameworks so that all new apprenticeships will be on the same higher-quality standards by the start of the 2020/21 academic year.

The government has worked closely with business groups to ensure the Apprenticeship Levy works for employers who are at the heart of delivering this move to world-leading training.

In the coming weeks, the government will set out a process to seek views on the operation of the levy after 2020 to ensure it supports the development of the skilled workforce businesses need for the new economy.

Further Information

• the apprenticeship levy is making good progress – with 1.41 million apprenticeships started since May 2015. There were over 161,000 starts reported on apprenticeship standards in 2017/18 (provisional), more than six times higher than in 2016/17
• the government is also establishing a National Retraining Scheme - during this Parliament - to support adults across the country and equip the workforce with the skills needed for the new economy. While this scheme is developed, the government is also funding additional projects including £30m to test the use of AI and innovative Edtech, and £34m for construction skills funding

Published 1 October 2018
Last updated 6 November 2018 + show all updates

1. 6 November 2018

   Updated with newly released data.

2. 1 October 2018

   First published.