Investigating the impact of the apprenticeship levy on training outcomes - January 2024

Investigating the impact of the apprenticeship levy on training outcomes - January 2024

A report that AoC commissioned from London Economics on recent trends in apprenticeships. Key findings include:

• apprenticeship starts fell by 33% (160k) overall from 2014/15 to 2022/23
• the biggest loss was for younger ages, ‘under 19’ and ‘19-24’ reduced by 100k starts between 2017 and 2022
• there was significant decline in the number of apprentices from deprived areas. Proportion from most deprived areas fell from 26% to 20%, whilst from least deprived areas starts rose from 14% to 18
• large decline in intermediate (Level 2) starts and rapid rise in higher apprenticeship starts
• North-East and Yorkshire and the Humber regions suffered greatest relative fall in starts, whilst relative decline in London and the South-East was much lower
• retail apprenticeships have been particularly affected, whilst other subject areas (e.g. business and law, health and social care) saw substantial decline in Level 2 but increased Level 4+ starts
  
• Starts for SMEs equalled 54% of all starts in 2014/15, but only 41% in 2020/21 (with the number of starts from SME employers halving in absolute terms

Despite the high level of overall investment in post-16 education, employers in England spend less on training than their OECD counterparts, skills shortages are growing and millions of adults risk being left behind as more jobs require stronger digital skills

Read the report