Decline in the number of deprived young people training as apprentices

In August 2020 to January 2021, the number of under 19s starting an apprenticeship in England was a third lower than before the pandemic, and less than half the level of new starters in 2015 to 2016.

The report calls for ‘urgent action’ to ensure that disadvantaged young people interested in apprenticeships - and whose prospects have already been impacted by Covid - do not suffer a second educational blow.

It also highlights how apprenticeship opportunities for young people from deprived backgrounds have been disproportionately impacted by recent reforms to the apprenticeship system, even before the pandemic.

Jenna Julius, report author and Senior Economist at NFER, said, ‘Apprenticeships have the potential to act as a vehicle for social mobility for young people, but our new report shows that over the last decade, those who are disadvantaged are increasingly being crowded out of the apprenticeship system.

‘The pandemic has had a particularly significant impact on the lives of young people, and we have to ensure that they do not suffer a second educational blow. It is essential we re-consider elements of the design of the current apprenticeship system to ensure those hardest hit can access apprenticeship opportunities.’

Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said, ‘We already knew that the reformed apprenticeship programme had landed badly in terms of new starts, across the apprenticeship landscape, but this report lays bare the disproportionate impact those reforms are having on younger apprentices, particularly those from deprived backgrounds. 

‘The NEU supports proposals to help young people access apprenticeship programmes. Young people benefit enormously from apprenticeships, enabling them to progress to higher level apprenticeships in sectors where their skills will be needed in the future. It is imperative that these young people are helped to stay on apprenticeships.’

The report highlights that Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) have been impacted disproportionately during the pandemic, meaning that young apprentices have been either furloughed or made redundant.

Mr Courtney said, ‘The proposal that there should be a separate budget for younger apprentices so that government can focus more closely on their needs is very welcome.’.

The Department for Education was approached for a comment

View from an early years apprenticeships' provider

Karen Derbyshire, head of sector for childcare and education, at Realise

'Unsurprisingly, March to July last year did see a huge decline in apprenticeship starts in comparison to previous years. Settings were largely closed, except for the children of key workers, and staff furloughed during this initial period of the pandemic.

'However, in our experience at least, the landscape improved dramatically from August 2020 due to the Government incentive, which supported a huge upturn of new apprenticeship opportunities. In fact, Realise has seen record starts since September 2020 – and there are no signs of slow down.

'Our success has been across the board. Our 16 to 18-year-old apprentices have also risen by around 15 per cent since August.

'We have adapted our curriculum and delivery to ensure it is fit-for-purpose in the current environment. The pandemic obviously caused huge market disruption initially, but our teams worked hard to support apprentices and their employers to ensure they continued to achieve.

'Settings still need support to deal with the fall-out of the pandemic and to encourage them to continue with apprenticeships. We would like to see the Government incentive extended for a longer period and the 5 per cent contribution for SME employers removed, as this is definitely a barrier for some.

'We would also advocate removing the cap of 10 on the Apprenticeship Service account for those employers that are not levy contributors but have multiple settings.'

• Download the report, Putting Apprenticeships to Work for Young People