Apprenticeships

APP 15

 

Written evidence submitted by Ofsted

     

This submission summarises Ofsted’s evidence in response to the five questions posed as part of the Select Committee inquiry.

How successful has the National Apprenticeship Service been since it was created in April 2009? Has it helped bridge the gap between the two funding Departments? (BIS and Department for Education)

1. Ofsted does not have a comment to make about the effectiveness of the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS).

Is the extra funding promised by the Coalition Government necessary for apprenticeships? How can this funding best be spent?

2. Ofsted does not directly inspect or report on funding; nevertheless we would like the Select Committee to note that inspection evidence has consistently shown that Apprenticeships are well-established programmes of learning, popular with learners and employers. Their success, as measured in terms of qualification success rates, has steadily improved over time. The overall success rate for levels 2 and 3 apprenticeships increased considerably, from 63.9% in 2007/08 to 73.8% in 2009/10. [1]

3. Skills development is central to the growth and rebalancing of the nation’s economy. Apprenticeships are not just an essential building block for economic recovery; the quality of vocational provision offered today has an immediate impact on the future prospects of young people and adults. Progression routes to further training and higher skills development need promoting and priority should be given to commissioning apprenticeship provision that is responsive to a rapidly changing labour market.

4. There are opportunities for the learning and skills sector in the period ahead, even in the context of tight fiscal constraints on publicly funded education and training. The sector has a vital role to play in developing the skills and capabilities of the current and future workforce through apprenticeships and other programmes of learning. Furthermore, realising the government’s ambition of full participation in learning up to the age of 18 will be critically reliant on the sector’s expertise in designing and delivering high quality learning programmes, including pre-apprenticeships and apprenticeships, to engage and meet the needs of these learners and prospective employers.

5. Government has granted greater autonomy to the sector by reducing central directives and targets, encouraging a greater degree of local accountability. Through working with employers and local enterprise partnerships and by continuing to focus on the wider benefits of learning for individuals and for their communities, colleges and other providers have the opportunity to reinforce their position as strategic leaders in the economic and social development of localities.

6. High-quality information, advice and guidance are required to help young people and adults understand their future options and make the right choices. The range and complexity of courses, programmes and qualifications, including apprenticeships, can be bewildering. Good-quality guidance enthuses and motivates learners, including those at risk of disengagement, and encourages participation and progression.

7. Ofsted evidence shows that the quality of information, advice and guidance is still too variable. For example, in around half the secondary schools visited as part of Ofsted’s 2010 survey on information, advice and guidance, inspectors were concerned about the completeness and impartiality of the advice offered. Young people were not always aware of their full range of options, nor did they understand the expectations and demands of different education, training and employment routes in enough detail. [2]

Are apprenticeships of a high enough quality to benefit apprentices and their employers? Should there be more Level 3 apprenticeships?

8. In 2010/11, there were 292,700 Apprenticeship starts at level 2 (compared to 190,500 in 2009/10) and 147,900 starts at level 3 in 2010/11 (compared to 87,700 in 2009/10). The success rate at level 2 increased from 64.4% in 2007/08 to 73.4% in 2009/10. The success rate at level 3 increased from 62.8% in 2007/08 to 74.8% in 2009/10.

9. In 2010/11, Ofsted inspected apprenticeship programmes that involved around 65,000 learners (2009/10 published data). The large majority of inspections found that learners were gaining a broad range of both practical and theoretical skills that were directly applicable to their work and the needs of their employers.

10. In good and outstanding provision, the delivery of on- and off-the-job training is highly individualised by trainers, assessors and employers, with each learner receiving close attention and support which takes good account of individual needs. In apprenticeship programmes delivered by employers themselves apprenticeships are often tightly tailored to meet business needs, producing apprentices who are job-ready from early on in their programmes.

11. Where work-based learning is most effective, the industry experience of tutors, the high quality of the learning environments and the chance to apply learning directly in the workplace all combine to motivate and enthuse learners.

12. Success on apprenticeship programmes is often greater when learners have progressed from link courses for 14–16-year-olds in schools. This underlines the importance of a good curriculum and planning for progression in partnerships and across institutional boundaries. Similarly, progression from young apprenticeship programmes on to full apprenticeships within the same industry or company increases the chances of success, not least because the work experience improves young people’s understanding of the industry and they become known by their future employers. Successful work experience while at school is viewed as an important factor by employers in selecting young people for apprenticeships.

13. Resources are generally good and in specialist employer providers they are often excellent. Partnership working with employers is usually productive, but in the weaker providers it is not always close enough to ensure that learning is planned effectively. However, most employers provide very good support for their apprentices.

14. Less successful aspects of apprenticeship provision include imprecise target setting and insufficient identification of, or support for, learners’ literacy and numeracy development.

15. Structured pathways to enable learners to progress are being developed actively and successfully in most provider types, particularly in colleges, providing good progression routes for learners from foundation and pre-entry programmes through to higher levels of training and education.

16. However, level 2 qualifications constitute by far the greatest number of qualifications currently undertaken. The development of pathways to higher-level apprenticeships and other level 4 programmes remains key to raising the skills levels of the workforce. Providers will need to work even more closely with employers to ensure that they are developing new programmes in areas of economic growth and meeting local demands for skills.

17. Ofsted is currently revising the Common Inspection Framework for Further Education and Skills. The revised framework, which will be introduced in September 2012, places greater emphasis on evaluating the extent to which learners progress to higher-level qualifications and into jobs that meet local and national needs.

Apprenticeship bonuses – how should they function? Will they encourage the involvement of more small and medium sized businesses to take on apprentices? If not what will?

18. While Ofsted does not directly inspect or report on funding, targeted initiatives to broaden and increase the supply of apprenticeship places would be a welcome development. There are challenges in getting employers involved to take on apprentices, particularly small to medium enterprises. A 2010 Ofsted survey highlighted the difficulties in engaging employers:

‘Even in the case of the good and outstanding arrangements that were surveyed for this report, which were having clear benefits for the employers, it was overwhelmingly the education and training providers that had initiated the relationship’. [3]

19. Small to medium enterprises (SMEs) do not always have the capacity to remain well informed about, and become involved in, national initiatives such as the one proposed. The 2010 survey noted ‘Size or lack of resources often made it difficult for the smaller provider and employer partnerships visited to influence the strategic planning and development of provision locally or nationally’.

20. The survey made recommendations for engaging employers:

‘Sector Skills Councils and other bodies representing employers should:

n improve mechanisms to enable smaller providers and the employers they work with to influence the development of provision nationally and locally

n encourage employers to become more actively involved with providers to ensure that they obtain the education and training they need.

Local and regional strategic groups, and local authority partnerships should:

n ensure that smaller, niche and independent providers are properly represented on groups responsible for local strategic planning.’

21. Matching applicants to the right apprenticeship places is important if recruitment incentives are to be effective. A feature of good practice in a recent survey on apprenticeships noted:

‘Online applications allowed geographical sifting of applicants, matching them to the centres closest to them where vacancies arose. Analysis of data at two of the employers showed that improved retention over the first six months of their training programmes was linked to the shorter distances travelled by apprentices to work’. [4]

22. In addition, incentives also have a part to play in ensuring that when SMEs take on apprentices, the on-the-job training is of a high quality, enabling the apprentice and their employer to take a shared and active interest in learning and skills development. A good practice survey report on employers’ involvement in work-related education and training noted positive aspects of group training associations in reinforcing the reality of working in a business:

‘The group training associations visited were often particularly successful in ensuring that employers reinforced their learners’ status as employees, making them feel part of the organisations with which they were placed. This helped to show learners how their work contributed to those businesses, improved their team working skills and gave them a good understanding of the employment opportunities that were available’. [5]

Is the current funding arrangement for training of apprentices of 100% for 16–18 year olds and 50% for 19–24 year olds appropriate?

23. Ofsted does not directly inspect or report on funding. The demand for employer-based training has grown significantly and often outstrips supply in both age categories. Many different provider types are expanding their work-based provision such as colleges, local authorities and large multi-site national independent learning and employer providers.

24. Data published by the Data Service show that the total volume of Apprenticeship starts in 2009/10 was 279,700, an increase of 16.6% compared to 2008/09. Of these learners, 116,800 were under the age of 19, a 17.5% increase on 2008/09; 113,800 were aged 19–24, a 34.3 per cent increase on2008/09. [6] The apprenticeship success rates for the two age categories have been steadily improving, from 49.7% for apprentices aged 16–18 and 47.1 % for those aged 19–24 in 2005/6 to 72.4% and 74.9% respectively in 2009/10.

26 January 2012

References

 

Annual Reports

The Annual Report of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills 2010/11, November 2011.

‘Vocational education and training for young people’ in The Annual Report of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills 2009/10, November 2010.

Thematic survey reports

Good practice in involving employers in work-related education and training (090227), Ofsted, 2010; www.ofsted.gov.uk/publications/090227.

Learning from the best: examples of best practice from providers of apprenticeships in underperforming vocational areas (090225), Ofsted, 2010; www.ofsted.gov.uk/publications/090225.

Moving through the system – information, advice and guidance (080273), Ofsted, 2010; www.ofsted.gov.uk/publications/080273.

Reducing the numbers of young people not in education, employment or training: what works and why (090236), Ofsted, 2010; www.ofsted.gov.uk/publications/090236.

Twelve outstanding providers of work-based learning (100112), Ofsted, 2010; www.ofsted.gov.uk/publications/100112.