Apprenticeship: A Key Route to Skill

HL Paper 183-I, 5th Report of Session 2006-07 – Volume I: Report

Author:

House of Lords – Select Committee on Economic Affairs

Publisher:

TSO (The Stationery Office)

Price: £12.00

The UK has an excellent record in higher education but a poor record in providing skills for the rest of the population. The result is low productivity and low wages for many, to the detriment of the economy, as well as needless disaffection among the young. 'Apprenticeship: A Key Route to Skill (HL Paper 183-I)' recommends renovating and expanding the existing apprenticeship system. Apprenticeship gives young people the skills that employers demand, which in turn boosts their wages and benefits the economy. In most European countries, such systems are the main route to skill for up to half of all young people, and comparable opportunities are needed here.

In Britain, many who could and should benefit from apprenticeship have not done so. Many young people leave school without the basic functional literacy and numeracy required for apprenticeship and many schools fail to inform students about apprenticeship opportunities. By the age of 14 all school pupils should be fully informed about the opportunities provided by apprenticeship. Problems also surround the apprenticeship programmes themselves; the Government has given individual employers too little involvement in how apprenticeships are run.

Within five years all Government funding for apprenticeships should go directly to employers. Apprenticeship schemes have suffered from too much emphasis on quantity over quality and completion rates for advanced apprenticeships remain unacceptably low. Progression through the different levels of apprenticeship and on to higher education also needs to be greatly improved, after successive Governments have failed to tackle these problems due to poor implementation, frequent reorganisations, and the absence of a single Government body to take responsibility for apprenticeships. The Committee urges the Government to establish a new and powerful unit, reporting directly to a cabinet minister, to 'own' and take responsibility for apprenticeship.

The accompanying 'Apprenticeship: A Key Route to Skill – Volume II: Evidence (HL Paper 138-II)' (ISBN 0104011157) is available to buy separately, see below.

Extent	52 pages	ISBN	9780104011164
Size	A4	Price	£12.00
Format	Paperback	Published	20 Jul 2007
Availability	Colour copy: 3 - 5 days	Delivery	Delivery options and charges