B

Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 10 March 2025

Debate

Apprenticeships: Entry Requirements

Contribution

The noble Lord is right to ask us about the growth and skills levy. The current apprenticeship levy and system are—employers tell us—too inflexible and do not allow some of the provision that would ensure precisely that more young people are able to enter apprenticeships. That is why, at the first stage of delivering flexibilities in the growth and skills levy, we will introduce foundation apprenticeships along the lines I outlined, which will encourage far more young people to come into apprenticeships. In doing that, we will also support the small and medium-sized enterprises, which tend to have younger people as apprentices and take more people from disadvantaged backgrounds. We will also introduce flexibility around the minimum length of an apprenticeship, so that in areas where it makes sense to teach the whole standard in a shorter time, or for those who already have a considerable amount of prior learning, that minimum will go to eight rather than 12 months.

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