The government’s target to rapidly increase the number of apprentices risks being “poor value for money”, says the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
The think tank warns that it could devalue the “brand” of apprenticeships by turning it into “just another term for training”.
The government has a target of three million apprenticeships and is imposing a levy on employers to fund it.
The Department for Education says standards are “rigorously checked”.
Report co-author Neil Amin-Smith says there is a “desperate need” for better vocational training – and the government’s industrial strategy has emphasised the need to improve technical education.
Wildly optimistic
But the report warns the government has “failed to make a convincing case for such a large and rapid expansion in apprenticeships” and warns of “wildly optimistic” claims for how much extra earnings could be generated by the investment in apprentices.
The analysis from the IFS casts doubt on the use of public money in the apprenticeships drive, funded by an employers’ levy being introduced this spring which is expected to raise £2.8bn by 2019-20. Read more
