Chancellor Rishi Sunak will announce a £111 million boost for traineeships on Wednesday, the Treasury has said.

The money is expected to triple the number of traineeships on offer for 16- to 24-year-olds and forms part of Mr Sunak’s plan to secure Britain’s economic recovery from the coronavirus.

Businesses will receive £1,000 for every trainee they offer a work placement to. 

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The traineeship programme was launched in 2013 by the coalition government as a route into apprenticeships, education or employment – and to help youngsters become "job-ready" by developing their soft skills.

Coronavirus: Tripling the number of traineeships

The number of young people undertaking a traineeship fell for the first time in 2017, and has continued to fall. However, data from the Department for Education, released in 2019, showed that three-quarters of young people who completed a traineeship went on to start an apprenticeship, further study or get a job within 12 months.

A statement from the Treasury said: “As part of a traineeship, which lasts from six weeks to six months, young people receive maths, English and CV-writing training, as well as guidance about what to expect in the workplace. They also receive a high-quality work placement of 60-90 hours.

“The government are making available three times more funding to providers this year to pay for tripling the number of trainees, and also increasing the funding providers receive for training.”

The expanded scheme is expected to be in place by September 2020.