It was announced today that Mark Dawe, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP), will be leaving AELP in mid-August to take up a new role within the skills sector. Current chief operating officer, Jane Hickie, has been promoted to become AELP’s managing director as part of a new structure which the AELP Board has put in place to address the challenges that Covid-19 has presented. Her appointment recognises the crucial part that she has played in AELP’s

The Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) has called on the Department for Education to intervene and ensure that the country’s apprenticeship training provider infrastructure remains in place as part of the post-pandemic recovery plan. This follows the Prime Minister’s statement to the Commons Liaison Committee yesterday that he would “look at the idea” of giving young people aged 16 to 25 an ‘apprenticeship guarantee’. The proposal was put to him by the Education select c

Britain’s response to the growth in pandemic-related unemployment requires a cross-departmental approach within government, according a new set of proposals published by the Association of Employment and Learning Providers. The solution must start with identifying job opportunities and upskilling requirements as the core driver, not a generic skills or Work Programme with different government departments doing their own thing. This requires sophistication and close engagement with employers

Three-fifths of employers have stopped recruiting apprentices altogether and many more have slashed new starts, latest AELP Covid impact survey finds Training providers are facing a massive Covid-related cash squeeze because employers have stopped recruiting new apprentices and the lockdown is preventing existing apprentices from being able to complete their training programmes. The latest findings...

DfE Covid-19 support package for apprenticeships and adult education: ‘An important step but still far from a fair approach for all apprentices’

Training providers are making remarkable efforts during the lockdown to keep training apprentices and other learners on government skills programmes. An extraordinary 81% of current apprentices are still actively learning after providers executed an almost overnight switch to online learning and assessment resources, but the continued lack of Education department support in defiance of Cabinet Office Covid-19 supplier protection guidelines is threatening to destroy much of the good work being

Apprenticeships on the brink of collapse after Education Department refuses to implement Cabinet Office Covid-19 guidelines Apprenticeship training providers are being forced to either close or mothball their operations, leaving thousands of apprentices across England unable to start or complete their programmes. Their actions are a direct result of the Department for Education’s refusal to comply with Cabinet Office Covid-19 guidelines which require all government departments and public

“The omission of any DfE funding support for apprenticeships and other skills training goes completely against the assurance offered by the Secretary of State to the House of Commons last week. We are left to conclude that the government is not serious about apprenticeship training or any other forms of skills training continuing while the pandemic goes on or that it is very happy to preside over many independent training providers (ITPs) going out of business over the next three months.”

Covid-19 and skills training: The three big things that need to happen now The Association of Employment and Learning Providers has submitted to the DfE and Treasury a list of major actions and other flexibilities which need to be taken to safeguard apprenticeship and skills provision during the pandemic. The three most important measures needed without any further delay are: 1. Guaranteed programme income across all funding streams for all provider types (grant or contracted) until the

Budget 2020 contained an encouraging announcement that the government will ensure that sufficient funding is made available in 2020-21 to support an increase in the number of new high-quality apprenticeships in small and medium sized businesses. AELP was the first to acknowledge though that the announcement in the Treasury’s red book did not include any numbers in terms of how much new funding will be made available. More details are expected to follow in the forthcoming Spending Review.