Apprenticeship levy funding should be spent on providing new opportunities for young people facing a challenging labour market, not on MBA-style qualifications, education charity the Sutton Trust has said.

The trust also highlighted a YouGov poll of 156 apprentice employers, in which three in five (61 per cent) said their apprentices had lost out on work or learning amid the coronavirus crisis. Around 36 per cent of apprentices have been furloughed, 8 per cent made redundant and 17 per cent have had their off-the-job learning suspended, according to the Sutton Trust.

In a new report entitled Levelling Up?, published today, the Sutton Trust says that in this time of economic downturn and limited resources, apprenticeships must deliver social mobility opportunities for young people. 

The report says that the growth of degree apprenticeships –  from 756 in 2015-16 to 13,587 in 2018-19 – has not benefited young people. It found that more than half of degree apprenticeships were taken up by people over the age of 30, while just 6 per cent of young people benefiting from degree apprenticeships were from deprived communities.

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An exclusive Tes investigation in February this year found that more than £104 million in levy funding had been spent by businesses putting senior managers through master's degree apprenticeships, including MBAs, since 2017. 

Apprenticeships 'have a crucial role'

Sir Peter Lampl, founder and chairman of the Sutton Trust, said work needed to be done to widen access to degree apprenticeships.

He said: “The coronavirus crisis has already had a serious impact on apprentices, with 61 per cent being made redundant or furloughed, or unable to access their learning.

“The priority for current apprentices should be to continue their training where possible, and the government must do more to support training providers. In the long term, apprenticeships have a crucial role to deliver on the government’s social mobility agenda, which will be especially important as we come out of the pandemic." 

Sir Peter added: “Degree apprenticeships were introduced in 2015 with the promise of offering young people an alternative to traditional degrees. They offer a powerful combination of on-the-job learning and academic work, enabling young people to graduate with little or no debt and with the skills the marketplace wants.

“The trust is also launching its first-ever apprenticeship summer school, modelled after its highly successful university summer schools, to widen access to degree apprenticeships.”

The Sutton Trust said that the priority for current apprentices should be to continue training where possible, even when on furlough or if redeployed within a company.

A public sector apprenticeship programme

The University and College Union (UCU) said the government should create a new public sector apprenticeship programme in areas such as health and social care to lead economic recovery.

UCU head of further education Andrew Harden said: “The pandemic is having a major impact on apprenticeships with a majority missing out on work or their learning. The government must step in and guarantee that apprentices don’t lose out from this crisis.

“The pandemic has highlighted the importance of sectors like health and social care, and new a programme of apprenticeships across the public sector will help lead to our recovery.”  

Association of Employment and Learning Providers chief executive Mark Dawe said the report should make for “very sober reading within government”. 

He said: “The report reminds ministers starkly that apprenticeships are work-based learning programmes where their value lies in learning on the job, and that only so much can be learned remotely at home.”

Amy Dowling and Charlie James, from the leadership team of the National Society of Apprentices, said: “Furloughing apprentices on £3.31 is not only unfair and immoral, but puts them at risk of poverty and ill-health."

They added: "We agree that we need an apprenticeship system that can deliver excellent training to apprentices when we all get back to work. Apprentices need colleges that can deliver day release programmes and employers who truly understand that an apprenticeship is an education for a career not just training for a job. High-quality off-the-job training shouldn’t just be for the lucky few on engineering courses. Having seen their impact over recent months surely we must now agree that apprentices in logistics, social care and early years, to name but a few, also deserve real off-the-job training.

"As part of supporting this, we need senior staff who already hold qualifications to stand up for others and allow apprenticeship funding to be spent on young people or those without formal qualifications to enter the world of work. The recent bonanza of MBA-style apprenticeships needs urgent review. The degree apprenticeships funded through the levy were meant to mark a change for social mobility – however, without a rebalancing of the way the levy is spent, those of us struggling to get a start will continue to be squeezed out.”

The Department for Education has been contacted for comment.