Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Degree Apprenticeships

Monday 17 April 2023 · 5 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 4 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Minister affirmed support for degree apprenticeships, highlighting 330 extra degree-level apprentices in Siobhan Baillie's constituency since 2018.
  • Minister addressed social mobility concerns, stating reforms and targeted careers advice aim to increase access for disadvantaged students.
  • Minister discussed communication efforts, mentioning a national campaign called Skills for Life to promote apprenticeships and raise awareness.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Siobhan Baillie
Education
Context

The MP is concerned about the uptake of degree apprenticeships and wants to know what steps are being taken by her Department.

Question

What steps her Department is taking to increase the uptake of degree apprenticeships?

Answer from Robert Halfon

My hon. Friend will know that 'degree apprenticeships' are my two favourite words in the English language. My hon. Friend's constituency of Wantage has had 330 extra degree-level apprentices since 2018. We have had over 180,000 starts overall since 2014 and we are investing an additional—an additional—£40 million over the next two years to support degree apprenticeships.

Answered
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Q2 David Johnston
Education Employment
Context

The MP notes a disparity between affluent and disadvantaged young people taking up degree apprenticeships, questioning how the government is addressing this issue.

Question

My right hon. Friend is a great supporter of degree apprenticeships, as am I, but he will know they do not always function as the route for social mobility that they should. We have seen a much higher proportion of the most affluent young people obtain them than we have the poorest young people, so what is he doing to ensure disadvantaged students get their fair share of degree apprenticeships?

Answer from Robert Halfon

We are transforming careers advice on apprenticeships in our schools and targeting that advice towards disadvantaged students. The Office for Students has asked higher education to increase the proportion of level 4, 5 and degree apprenticeships as part of reforms to wider access. We also increased the care leavers bursary from £1,000 to £3,000, and are providing £1,000 to employers and training providers when they recruit young people. Our determination is to get more young people from disadvantaged backgrounds doing degree apprenticeships and apprenticeships across the board.

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Q3 Siobhan Baillie
Education
Context

The MP suggests that a national campaign is needed to raise awareness of apprenticeship opportunities, citing feedback from Stroud College apprentices.

Question

During a recent visit to the excellent South Gloucestershire and Stroud College, the Minister and I were quite properly schooled by two smart apprentices, who told us quite bluntly what they thought of the Government communications campaign to encourage apprenticeships and raise awareness of them. They were not hugely impressed and had some ideas themselves. After meeting the Stroud apprentices, will my right hon. Friend consider creating a new national campaign to raise awareness of this really important use of learning?

Answer from Robert Halfon

I had a wonderful visit with my hon. Friend to the excellent South Gloucestershire and Stroud College. She is absolutely right that we need to communicate the good work of apprenticeships and we are doing exactly that. We have a national campaign, Skills for Life, which is all over the national media. As I mentioned in my previous answer, we are also transforming careers advice on apprenticeships to ensure that students and learners have interactions with apprentice organisations to encourage them to do apprenticeships when they leave school. We have also worked with UCAS to ensure that apprenticeships are treated at the same level as when people apply for degrees.

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Q4 Steve McCabe Lab
Education Employment
Context

The MP notes a significant drop in apprenticeship starts and the return of £600 million to the Treasury, questioning if businesses could utilise some of this money for non-apprenticeship training.

Question

The number of apprenticeship starts has dropped significantly this year, and around £600 million of the levy was returned to the Treasury in the last year. Given the skills shortages affecting our economy, would it not make sense to let businesses in my constituency and elsewhere utilise at least some of that returned money for relevant non-apprenticeship training designed to alleviate the skills gap?

Answer from Robert Halfon

The hon. Gentleman cares passionately about these things. Apprenticeship starts increased by 8.6% in the past year. I am happy to send him the figures. For higher apprentices, that increased by 11%. The £600 million that he talked about—or £750 million, as quoted by the newspapers over the weekend—is money from the overall United Kingdom apprenticeship levy that was sent to the devolved authorities for them to spend on skills as they see fit.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The question specifically asked about utilising returned levy money for non-apprenticeship training, but the answer focused on overall increases in apprentice starts without addressing the specific ask.

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Q5 Jim Shannon DUP Strangford
Women & Equalities
Context

The MP acknowledges the importance of equal opportunities for women to do degree apprenticeships, especially in STEM fields.

Question

I thank the Minister for that response. It is important that everyone has the opportunity to do degree apprenticeships, working in partnership with businesses and companies to ensure that the opportunity works on the floor. It is important that ladies have the same opportunities as men. How is the Minister ensuring that ladies have those opportunities as well?

Answer from Robert Halfon

The hon. Gentleman is exactly right that we want to encourage more women to do apprenticeships, especially STEM apprenticeships. As I mentioned, we are doing a lot of work on careers. The apprenticeship and skills network is going around schools promoting apprenticeships and targeting disadvantaged students and areas where we need more female apprentices, including in STEM.

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