We all have our own views on the best ways to learn and develop skills; often informed by our own learning experiences positive or negative. By the time we are 16 and thinking of leaving school we face some of the most daunting choices we ever make about our lifelong learning. Apprenticeships has always been one of the options; a traditional means by which to learn a trade or skill, that parents once had to pay for the privilege of – just how different an option are they today?
In it’s strategy document ‘SKILLS FOR SUSTAINABLE GROWTH’ the Government’s Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS), sets out it’s vision for reform of the Further Education system in order to improve the skills of the workforce, the performance of the economy and engagement in learning. It defines a Leitch-inspired ambition for the UK to have a world-class skills base, that provides a consistent source of competitive advantage and asserts that developing a skilled workforce is vital in growing a private sector, which offers new and additional jobs for England’s prosperity. Apprenticeships remain very much an intrinsic part of this strategy.
The Skills Strategy posits the principles of fairness, responsibility and freedom as underpinning themes and calls for a complete U-turn from ‘…a culture of bureaucratic central planning, regulatory control and micro-management…’, where Government sets the targets for the number and type of qualifications and colleges and learners follow funding, to one where colleges and training providers respond to employer need and learner choice. If you are an employer this could understandably leave you wondering how and when you get a say in the types of qualifications and apprenticeship frameworks that your sector skills council* has developed?
Additionally, the Apprenticeship Act 2009 introduced the requirement for Apprentices to be employed. Having championed ‘employed status’ for many years and having achieved 98% employed status for learners, tpm welcomed this as did the best employers; previous arrangements often left everyone feeling somewhat temporary and less committed. But of course aspiring Apprentices have to be work-ready and employers want reassurance of this when offering employment contracts. The Apprenticeship Act represents a better deal for many young people and employers; it also introduces the Specification of Apprenticeship Standards for England (SASE), which has established the entitlement for young people to receive 280 hours of guided learning (GLH) each year; something that will help ensure the quality and consistency of the Apprenticeship brand.
As an employer it makes good business sense to invest in a higher-skilled workforce and gives us a competitive edge. Employing an Apprentice from the outset makes skills investment more secure and generates greater employee loyalty. Some occupational sectors have traditionally placed emphasis on advanced level skills attainment, such as the ‘Children’s and young people’s workforce’ where staff have to be L3 qualified to progress in the sector; other sectors have been slower to respond to the skills challenge. In recent years the Hair and Beauty sector has seen increasing numbers of young people progressing more readily to advanced qualifications and many employers now insist on an advanced qualification (or dual qualifications such as barbering or nail technician) before offering sustained employment contracts. Aspiring Apprentices would do well to heed this message.
For tpm and many others the ‘Apprenticeship’ brand is the strongest it’s ever been. The National Apprenticeship Service (NAS), has end-to-end responsibility for driving forward the government’s ambition for increasing apprenticeships, with a field force across the Country. The Skills Funding Agency allocates funding to colleges and training providers and houses the National Apprenticeship Service. Learning providers delivering SFA contracts are now required to post their employer vacancies on the NAS Apprentice Vacancy Service website within 5 days and ensure that learners apply to these vacancies through their online vacancy service. This may present challenges for some in the sector, most obvious would be in terms of response time to employers who are used to fast recruitment results from learning providers, vs the risk of losing employer business to competing providers who fail to understand or comply with contractual funding requirements.
Government funding contributions vary depending on the occupational sector and the age of the learner and the Comprehensive Spending Review has not swerved by the learning and skills sector. Apprentices aged 16–18 years old, receive 100 percent of the training cost; Apprentices 19-24 years old receive up to 50 per cent and 25 year olds or over may only get a contribution depending on the sector and area where they work. In most cases funding is paid directly to the learning provider, via approved contracts with the SFA, which assume that training providers collect a percentage of the training costs from employers, for those aged 19 and over.
In an interview with FE News, Graham Hoyle OBE, chief executive of the Association of Learning Providers, said ‘Another major challenge in the current fiscal and economic climate is who pays for training. Individual learners going for level 3 qualifications or above may be encouraged to take out loans while the new lifelong learning accounts will also be a valuable asset to encouraging the acquisition of new skills. The really tough task will be persuading employers to contribute more…’
Charging employers is a complex issue that colleges and training providers have to manage carefully as we move forward; many good providers have already lost business and loyal employers to larger companies who undercut severely and compete on price, but don’t always deliver the best quality or have the highest levels of success. Inevitably employers will have to contribute, so when choosing a training provider, employers should balance costs with quality, service standards, reliability and flexibility.
One thing is sure, our businesses need young talent and better skills to develop our succession plans and remain at the competitive edge and this is why at tpm we put these things at the center of our 6 promises and our Business Solutions offer.
How is your business affected by the changed learning and skills landscape?
What concerns you most about funding, skills and Apprenticeships in your business?
How can we help or advise you on any of the issues in this blog?
tpm’s programme managers are contactable through the following links: Business and Administration; Hairdressing and Barbering and Childcare, or you can contact our Business Development Manager, Tracy Galvin.
*The Council for Adminisration ; habia and The Children”s Workforce Development Council are the three sector skills councils that tpm work with.
