16 to 18 apprenticeship growth funding

The Skills Funding Agency has announced an additional £25m for colleges and training providers to deliver 16 to 18 apprenticeships. In response to this announcement, Teresa Frith, Senior Skills Policy Manager for the Association of Colleges, said: “The in-year growth requests from colleges show there is a rising demand for apprenticeships from 16 to 18-year-olds and employers. “The Government considers apprenticeships to be vital to economic growth and so it is very disappointing that the funding they are providing to colleges isn’t large enough or flexible enough to cope with demand. “A priority for the Skills Funding Agency must be to learn from this in developing the new system which comes into effect with the introduction of the levy in 2017.”