Last year saw the introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy which the government claimed would; “let employers choose and pay for the apprenticeship training they want.”
The government’s commitment to achieving three million apprenticeship starts by 2020 was behind the introduction of the levy which applies to organisations whose pay bill exceeds three million a year. However, there are growing concerns about a decline in numbers of apprenticeship starts following the introduction, with figures showing 261,200 apprenticeship starts between August 2017 and March 2018, compared with 362,400 in the previous academic year – a decrease of almost a third (28 per cent).
Experts accused the government of failing to respond to concerns about the levy, despite a consistent decline in starts since the charge’s introduction, but the giving evidence to the education select committee in May, education secretary Damian Hinds said the levy was going through a “period of change” and employers were taking time to adjust.
Qualified mechanics are in short supply and training mechanics relies on apprenticeships, so we hope Damian Hinds is accurate regarding teething problems.
The Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) has information on Motor Trade related apprenticeships.
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