Parliamentary inquiry into apprenticeship quality


Apprenticeship quality concerns will come under the spotlight in a new parliamentary inquiry, announced as this booklet went to press. The Education, Skills and Economy (ESE) sub-committee’s investigation will look at a variety of apprenticeship-related issues, including quality, progression on to higher levels and levy plans.


It will also investigate progress with government reforms as the sector tries to increase take-up and achieve the government’s three million target by 2020.


The announcement of the inquiry came just two days after business secretary Sajid Javid told the Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) select committee he would welcome more scrutiny on skills.


Iain Wright MP, co-chair of the ESE sub-committee and chair of the BIS Select Committee, said: “There’s been a lot of uncertainty about how the apprenticeship system is going to work and we will want to press the government [through the new inquiry] on how they are going to ensure businesses, colleges, and students have confidence in the system in the future.”


An Ofsted report published in October 2015, following its own inquiry into apprenticeships, was critical of the standard of apprenticeships, and the National Audit Office announced in November 2015 that it would be looking into quality concerns as part of its investigation into the apprenticeship programme.


Commenting on the Ofsted report, TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “There must be an emphasis on quality rather than just quantity. One in three providers visited by Ofsted for this report were failing to deliver high-quality training to their apprentices, and there is a danger that the government’s target of three million apprenticeships could lead to an increase in poor-quality provision.” She emphasised that union involvement in apprenticeship programmes “is a key safeguard against bad apprenticeships”. 


The TUC highlighted the issue of apprenticeship quality in its response to the government consultation on the levy in 2015.


Trade unions will be carefully watching the unfolding outcomes of these concerns on the final apprenticeship policy. Above all they will be concerned that the three million target does not threaten quality in the pursuit of quantity.