Apprenticeship Blog – Cheryl Swales (June 2018) As members may have seen from recent social media posts, I have just embarked on a Level 4 Project Management Apprenticeship. It is an interesting experience for me to become a learner again having previously worked in ITPs managing apprenticeships and delivery staff, and with AELP as Project Manager for the past 2 ½ years.

The government urgently needs to step up its response to addressing lower level skills gaps in the economy with Brexit less than a year away, according to a new policy submission by the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP). AELP is calling for DfE ministers to use their spending review proposals and the post 18 education review specifically to:

The latest monthly apprenticeship start numbers for March 2018 (23,900) have been published today showing a 52% fall in total starts in comparison with March last year. Starts for the year 2017-18 so far are down 28% on a year ago. Based on the latest quarterly total for January-March 2018 of 76,500 starts, AELP now estimates that 206,000 starts per quarter are now needed until the end of March 2020 in order for the government to achieve its 3 million starts manifesto commitment.

Adult Education Budget (AEB) – making the most of your funding allocation with NCFE Having eagerly awaited the latest version of the Adult Education Budget (AEB) Funding rules, we were pleased to see that the rules remain largely unchanged. There appears to be some minor amendments, rather than significant wholesale changes and this is absolutely the right decision, for a number of reasons.

Focusing on three primary objectives of empowering Londoners to access education, meeting the needs of the City’s economy and deliver a strategic technical and adult education offer- the Skills Strategy has a sharp focus on outcomes rather than qualifications.

AELP has teamed up with leading national law firm, VWV, to expand the legal support services available to its members who are engaging with employers and other partner organisations to deliver apprenticeships. The original offer, which was tied in with the apprenticeship levy’s introduction in April 2017, gave members free and exclusive access to template legal contracts for use with levy-funded and non-levy funded employers.

With only two years to go until T Levels become part of the education curriculum, new research published today by City & Guilds and AELP reveals that just 17% of UK employers feel that they have a good understanding of the new qualifications, with almost half (49%) rating their understanding as poor. In addition, almost a quarter (54%) of education providers rate their understanding of T Levels as either middling or poor.