Low-skilled and often short training courses, involving serving customers in a coffee shop, or food and drink in a restaurant, should not count as apprenticeships, a report by independent think-tank Reform has suggested.
In a review of the Apprenticeship Levy, following its first full year since implementation, Reform suggested that while the government hoped the levy would encourage more employers to provide high quality apprenticeships, it has infact “diminished” their quality.
The aforementioned types of training course “do not meet the historical or international definition of an apprenticeship because they typically offer minimal training, represent low-wage jobs and do not represent skilled occupations,” said the report’s author, senior research fellow Tom Richmond, although they are now included on a list of roles “ now officially counted as an apprenticeship”.
The think-tank claims that without reform, the government will spend £600 million on courses incorrect labelled as apprenticeships, in 2019-20.
The number of people starting apprenticeships fell by 40% in the six months after the levy was introduced (April to October 2017), with a downtrend trend also evident in November and December.
In addition, Reform found that more experienced and older workers have increasingly become the focus of apprenticeships, at the expense of less experienced and younger employees.
