Marvin OnumonuGovernment funding cuts to Level 7 apprenticeships for over-21s will leave finance companies with an extra £214m bill for training costs, according to research from the University Vocational Awards Council (UVAC).
Level 7 apprenticeships, which are equal to a Master’s degree, are mostly taken up by those aged over 21, with 89% of starts in this bracket.
The research found that apprenticeship starts at this level have grown 13% year-on-year over the past three years, with a 5% increase in the last 12 months.
Additionally, a report by the National Foundation of Educational Research previously found that 90% of jobs across all sectors will need higher-level skills by 2035.
The cuts come at a time when demand for these apprenticeships is rising.
Mandy Crawford-Lee (pictured), CEO for the UVAC, said: “The government’s policy to remove vital levy funding – that is supporting nine in ten Level 7 apprentices – is a major blow to finance employers and will leave them facing both huge training bill costs and a skills shortage headache.
“This funding black hole is at a time when Level 7 apprenticeships have been growing in popularity year-on-year and are critical to driving wider economic growth.
“They’re also proven to enhance social mobility – giving individuals from underserved communities a clear career pathway, access to higher education and the skills to achieve their full earning potential in senior-level positions.”
Crawford-Lee added: “This new policy ultimately feels like a contradiction to Labour’s Industrial Strategy, where it insists there will be ‘no glass ceiling on the ambitions of young people in Britain’.”
Government spending on Level 7 apprenticeships has remained flat over the last three years, but still made up around 10% of the Department for Education’s overall budget for apprenticeships.
Crawford-Lee said: “Removing funding for those Level 7 apprentices aged over 21 indicates to us that the government is unfortunately not looking to prioritise the career and skills progression of finance professionals at every stage of their working life.
“It’s disappointing that the government places such little emphasis on the link between skills and productivity.
“We simply don’t believe that reducing Level 7 funding eligibility will make lower-level apprenticeships more attractive to finance companies, or more importantly – reduce the number of young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs).”
She added: “It would seem that tackling NEETs is now the government’s policy priority at the expense of developing the skills provision needed for a highly skilled, world-beating economy.”
