Skills minister Jacqui Smith has set a target of 50,000 more young apprentices each year by March 2029, according to a letter sent to Skills England last month. The ambition aims to reverse nearly half of the decade-long decline in apprenticeship starts among 16- to 24-year-olds, which fell by 40% over ten years.
Background on Apprenticeship Funding Shift
For the roughly 64% of young people who do not attend university, apprenticeships serve as crucial entry points into the workforce. However, funding has increasingly flowed away from new entrants and toward older existing employees. The interim report from Alan Milburn’s review on young people and work, published in May, flagged this as a problem. Mr Milburn’s final recommendations are still months away.
Apprenticeships are not exclusively for school-leavers; people of all ages should be able to apply for paid trainee positions. But the tilt of incentives against younger adults has contributed to a significant rise in the number of young people not in education or employment.
Government Action and Past Mistakes
Positive signs indicate that ministers will not wait for Mr Milburn to address the issue. In her letter, Smith asked Skills England for urgent advice on which apprenticeship programmes should receive funding increases. She also announced the 50,000 target, which would reverse almost half of the decline seen since 2015.
Clarity about past mistakes enables correction. The Conservative government introduced the apprenticeship levy for large employers in 2017. Firms were given excessive freedom over how to spend money from the centrally held fund, and they have used an increasing share to train existing staff, sometimes at degree level or higher. Advice from an earlier review—that apprenticeship funding for new entrants should be kept separate from wider training budgets—was disregarded. In 2024/25, 43% of new apprentices had already been with their employer for a year or more.
Role of Skills England and New Incentives
Skills England has yet to prove itself. Its predecessor, the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education, was disbanded after presiding over the reallocation of resources away from their intended target. However, Smith’s intervention suggests that transferring responsibility for the £4 billion skills budget to the Department for Work and Pensions was a positive move. Ministers there are deeply concerned about the 16-24 cohort and are seeking ways to boost their workforce participation.
A further pledge is that employers will receive £2,000 for each apprentice aged 16-24 they hire. This financial incentive aims to encourage businesses to take on young people.
Devolution and Future Challenges
Much remains to be worked out. Last year’s skills white paper emphasised English devolution, proposing that strategic authorities will in future serve as the bridge between local jobs and training. This aligns with Andy Burnham’s commitment to empowering regions. It is unclear how this shift will be implemented, what role Whitehall will retain, and whether the government’s industrial strategy can deliver sufficient entry-level opportunities.
Tom Bewick, author of a book on skills policies, believes apprenticeships are “key to Labour taking on Reform UK at the next general election.” Voting patterns in areas of high unemployment and poor health support this view. The absence of economic opportunities damages democracy and blights lives. Apprenticeships are vital stepping stones, and the UK urgently needs more of them.
