Meeting demand from young people
8. Our report made clear "that many who
could and should benefit from apprenticeship have not done so",
mainly because of a severe shortage of places. This central point
was confirmed by the "matching service" pilot in Hampshire
and the Isle of Wight, where 17,000 applicants registered but
only 6,000 apprenticeship places are offered in the area each
year (Q 9).
9. Clearly, a huge increase in apprenticeship
places is needed to meet this pent-up demand. The Government is
committed to guaranteeing by 2013 an apprenticeship place for
every "suitably qualified young person" [4]
that wants one. This is a laudable objective but a tall order—and
we remain to be convinced that sufficient funding will be made
available to underwrite the guarantee. Moreover, the lead role
of the newly formed National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) needs
to be clarified.
4 It is not clear what age range this covers but it
is widely taken to mean 16-19-year olds. Back
|
