Draft to create more high quality apprenticeships

UNITED KINGDOM – New measures to ensure all apprenticeships are of a uniform high quality and have the confidence of both apprentices and employers were announced recently by David Lammy, skills minister, and Jim Knight, minister for schools and learners, as the government published its draft Apprenticeships Bill.

The Bill, which for the first time will establish a statutory basis for the entire apprenticeships programme, will set out clearly the relationship between different parts of the apprenticeship system and redefine the ‘blueprint’ outlining what apprenticeships should contain.

It will ensure schools provide advice about apprenticeships where appropriate so that young people are properly informed about apprenticeships as a career choice.

The government anticipates that around one in five of all young people will be undertaking an apprenticeship in the next decade and the draft Bill seeks to further establish apprenticeships as a mainstream learning option alongside going to college or university.

Key measures in the draft Bill will:

• Ensure there are enough apprenticeship places available so that all suitably qualified young people can take up their entitlement of an apprenticeship place from 2013.

• Outline the role of the new National Apprenticeship Service (NAS), which is being established to provide focused leadership for the apprenticeships programme, to act as a one-stop shop for employers making it easier for them to offer apprenticeships.

• Under the NAS, bring together a wide range of services and operations currently dispersed among a range of agencies, operating a national apprenticeship vacancy matching service, to link potential apprentices with potential employers. This will enable employers to advertise apprenticeship vacancies through a national portal, and will help young people and adults interested in apprenticeships to understand the range and diversity of opportunities that exist, and, where appropriate, to apply for an apprenticeship on-line.