Apprenticeship system 'failing disadvantaged young people'
Fiona Simpson
Wednesday, June 24, 2020
Disadvantaged young people are being failed by the apprenticeship system, the Social Mobility Commission has warned.
The commission adds that the coronavirus crisis is likely to worsen youth unemployment in the UK.
A new report by the commission, Apprenticeships and social mobility: Fulfilling potential, warns that the introduction of an apprenticeship levy in 2017 led to a "collapse in overall apprenticeship starts that hit disadvantaged learners hardest".
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The levy sees 0.5 per cent of the salary bill of major employers with an annual pay bill of more than £3m to provide training.
The report states that since the introduction of the levy the number of disadvantaged young people taking up apprenticeships has declined by 36 per cent compared with figures from 2015/16.
The number of wealthier young people taking up apprenticeships in the same time period dropped by 23 per cent, the commission says.
It also highlights that disadvantaged young people get paid less than more advantaged peers and states that just 63 per cent of disadvantaged males are likely to complete apprenticeships compared with 67 per cent of wealthier males.
Just 13 per cent of degree-level apprenticeships go to disadvantaged young people, the commission says.
The findings come despite the report highlighting that “apprenticeships are one of the most effective means of boosting social mobility for workers from poorer backgrounds”.
Alice Battiston, lead author on the report, said: “There is a severe disadvantage gap throughout the entire apprenticeship training journey, and this has worsened over time. Not only has the proportion of new starters from disadvantaged backgrounds declined over time, but they have also benefited less than their better-off peers from the shift towards higher-level programmes.”
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Battiston added: “The pandemic is likely to have made the disadvantage gap worse. There needs to be urgent consideration of the impact of the apprenticeship levy on social mobility outcomes.”
Meanwhile, Youth Employment UK’s new Youth Voice Census suggests that between 1.5m and 2m young people more could face unemployment due to the pandemic. Youth unemployment increased by one million following the financial crash in 2008, it states.
The report adds: “Those who face levels of disadvantage are likely to see those gaps widen, and the impact of Covid-19 on youth unemployment is likely to be catastrophic.”
According to Youth Employment UK, young black people and those with additional needs are less likely to hear about apprenticeships while young people eligible for free schools meals are most likely to be directed to Job Centre services.
Some 1,390 young people aged between 14 and 24 responded to the census.
It found that 33 per cent of black respondents had never had apprenticeships discussed with them compared with 13 per cent of white respondents and 22 per cent of black respondents had never had going to university discussed with them compared with nine per cent of white respondents.
Those with additional needs are twice as likely to have never had going to university discussed with them, the report states while 19 per cent of young people with additional needs had never had apprenticeships discussed with them, compared with 11 per cent of those without additional needs.
Those who received free school meals in school were 20 per cent more likely to have been told about accessing Jobcentre provision than those who were not eligible, the report states.
Laura Jane Rawlings, chief executive of Youth Employment UK, said: “We need to ensure that quality careers provision is available to young people in all settings, in all levels of education and beyond.
“Government, business, education and the employability sector must listen to what young people tell them. The Youth Voice Census provides organisations with an opportunity to listen, take action and make changes."