Young people should be guaranteed an apprenticeship in response to the coronavirus pandemic and its likely impact on the UK economy, prime minister Boris Johnson has said.
Speaking in today's Downing Street briefing, the prime minister said: "For young people in particular, for whom the risk is highest of losing a job, I think it is going to be vital that we guarantee apprenticeships. We have to look after people across the board, but young people, I believe, should be guaranteed an apprenticeship."
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Apprenticeship guarantee
His comments come after figures from the government last week showed apprenticeship starts dropped significantly in the first weeks of lockdown to 13,020 apprenticeship starts reported between 23 March and 30 April 2020 – almost exactly half the 26,330 reported for this period at this point last year.
Speaking in front of a House of Commons committee days earlier, Boris Johnson said he would "look into" an apprenticeship guarantee for all young learners to help tackle the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Writing for Tes last week, Association of Employment and Learning Providers chief executive Mark Dawe questioned why government ministers were "struggling to make the connection between maximising the number of apprenticeship opportunities for young people and ensuring that the country’s training infrastructure is at maximum capacity to help create those opportunities".
