Hard work ahead to promote apprenticeships
Saturday, 16 February 2008
Richard Layard and Iain Vallance
A revolution is in the making. For years we have tried to close the skills gap through more and more full-time education. This has worked well for half the population, but for the other half it has been a dismal failure.
Now at last a government has acknowledged that for very many people the best way to learn is while earning - through apprenticeship. It is this, linked to part-time education relevant to the job, that is going to close our skills gap.
So the government's new policy on World-Class Apprenticeships could well be the most important thing it does in this parliament. It establishes apprenticeship as the main route to skills for those who do not go to university.
But whether it works depends entirely on British employers taking the lead and on schools accepting that preparation for apprenticeship is just as important as preparation for university.
The challenge posed by the government is enormous. By 2013 every school leaver will be guaranteed an apprenticeship place, provided she or he has at least five passes at GCSE.
To make this happen, there will be a new National Apprenticeship Service, led by a director reporting twice a year to the prime minister. This service will have a local field force that will encourage and support employers who provide places. It will also go into schools to promote apprenticeships to youngsters from 14 onwards, as an alternative route to skills when they reach 16. And it will provide a service matching candidates to places, as Ucas does for university entry.
To find enough places will be really hard work. There is already excess demand from young people and by 2013 we will need each year to place at least 20 per cent of 16-17 year-olds in apprenticeships, plus 15 per cent at age 18 and above.
So apprenticeship must be made more attractive to employers; and new incentives will be put in place. Many employers will become eligible for direct financial support. The state already pays an average of £3,300 a year per apprentice, but this typically goes to an intermediary such as a training company rather than to the business that employs the apprentice. Now many employers will get direct finance for the on-the-job training they provide. And all employers will have direct employment contracts with their apprentices.
Employers will also be given more control over the content of the on-the-job training. Now they are largely restricted to existing NVQ certificates determining the content of what is learned. In future, employers will be able to propose their own curriculum, which can be approved if good enough.
All this is excellent. As a recent report from the House of Lords select committee on economic affairs pointed out, employers have a natural incentive to shirk on training - to let other employers do it for them. At present only a third of large employers run apprenticeships. That is why the government has to become involved - in the interests of business as a whole.
The government also has to ensure that employers provide proper day release for the off-the-job training, which under the new education participation bill will become mandatory.
It is imperative that the off-the-job education produces genuine improvements in numeracy and literacy, as well as the technical knowledge that is directly relevant to the job. Britain scores fairly well in literacy and numeracy at 15 compared with other countries, but badly by 20 because - unlike in other countries - so many people get no basic education beyond 16. We need employers to recognise the importance of day release in putting this right.
A final issue is the length of apprenticeship. At present the average length is just one year. That is not long enough. It may be all right for a level two apprenticeship, but we want the majority of youngsters to complete level three, which corresponds to the traditional standard of apprenticeship up to the 1980s.
Employers include of course the public sector, which provides fewer apprenticeships pro rata than the private sector. The government must insist that the public sector starts setting an example.
Britain is less productive than the rest of northern Europe and it is also more unequal and has lower social mobility. All three phenomena arise because we have failed to provide proper skills for the less-academic half of the population. We now have the chance to put that right.
Lord Layard is at the London School of Economics' Centre for Economic Performance. Lord Vallance is a former president of the CBI. They have both signed a recent House of Lords select committee report on apprenticeship.
A revolution is in the making. For years we have tried to close the skills gap through more and more full-time education. This has worked well for half the population, but for the other half it has been a dismal failure.
Now at last a government has acknowledged that for very many people the best way to learn is while earning - through apprenticeship. It is this, linked to part-time education relevant to the job, that is going to close our skills gap.
So the government's new policy on World-Class Apprenticeships could well be the most important thing it does in this parliament. It establishes apprenticeship as the main route to skills for those who do not go to university.
But whether it works depends entirely on British employers taking the lead and on schools accepting that preparation for apprenticeship is just as important as preparation for university.
The challenge posed by the government is enormous. By 2013 every school leaver will be guaranteed an apprenticeship place, provided she or he has at least five passes at GCSE.
To make this happen, there will be a new National Apprenticeship Service, led by a director reporting twice a year to the prime minister. This service will have a local field force that will encourage and support employers who provide places. It will also go into schools to promote apprenticeships to youngsters from 14 onwards, as an alternative route to skills when they reach 16. And it will provide a service matching candidates to places, as Ucas does for university entry.
To find enough places will be really hard work. There is already excess demand from young people and by 2013 we will need each year to place at least 20 per cent of 16-17 year-olds in apprenticeships, plus 15 per cent at age 18 and above.
So apprenticeship must be made more attractive to employers; and new incentives will be put in place. Many employers will become eligible for direct financial support. The state already pays an average of £3,300 a year per apprentice, but this typically goes to an intermediary such as a training company rather than to the business that employs the apprentice. Now many employers will get direct finance for the on-the-job training they provide. And all employers will have direct employment contracts with their apprentices.
Employers will also be given more control over the content of the on-the-job training. Now they are largely restricted to existing NVQ certificates determining the content of what is learned. In future, employers will be able to propose their own curriculum, which can be approved if good enough.
All this is excellent. As a recent report from the House of Lords select committee on economic affairs pointed out, employers have a natural incentive to shirk on training - to let other employers do it for them. At present only a third of large employers run apprenticeships. That is why the government has to become involved - in the interests of business as a whole.
The government also has to ensure that employers provide proper day release for the off-the-job training, which under the new education participation bill will become mandatory.
It is imperative that the off-the-job education produces genuine improvements in numeracy and literacy, as well as the technical knowledge that is directly relevant to the job. Britain scores fairly well in literacy and numeracy at 15 compared with other countries, but badly by 20 because - unlike in other countries - so many people get no basic education beyond 16. We need employers to recognise the importance of day release in putting this right.
A final issue is the length of apprenticeship. At present the average length is just one year. That is not long enough. It may be all right for a level two apprenticeship, but we want the majority of youngsters to complete level three, which corresponds to the traditional standard of apprenticeship up to the 1980s.
Employers include of course the public sector, which provides fewer apprenticeships pro rata than the private sector. The government must insist that the public sector starts setting an example.
Britain is less productive than the rest of northern Europe and it is also more unequal and has lower social mobility. All three phenomena arise because we have failed to provide proper skills for the less-academic half of the population. We now have the chance to put that right.
Lord Layard is at the London School of Economics' Centre for Economic Performance. Lord Vallance is a former president of the CBI. They have both signed a recent House of Lords select committee report on apprenticeship.