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small number of large organisations able to provide non levy-funded apprentice training on programmes that employers evidently don’t want – and many of those do not cater for specialised industries like building engineering services,” he said. “Employers are frustrated by this, but we are still dealing with a record number of enquiries from companies of all sizes wanting apprentices. We have also seen a 27% increase in new apprentices signing up to our New Standard courses,” said Mr Howard. “Numbers are still too low, but that’s


because of the lack of funding for SMEs. Employers can see the potential in the new training approach so, given time, the situation will improve.” He added that final ‘end point’ assessment of candidates had been revamped making it more meaningful and geared towards life-long learning. The system now provides real evidence that the apprentice has the knowledge, skills and behaviours to operate as part of a modern workforce. “Our model is for apprentices – of all ages and all stages of their careers – to have a qualification for life that can be easily updated," explained Mr Howard. “Employers have been naturally distrustful of a system that used to focus on a lot of untargeted repeat training. That is being swept away with the New Standards and replaced by apprenticeships focussed on producing skills that are practical, relevant – and evolve as markets and technologies change.” He welcomed the Chancellor of the


Exchequer’s recent promise to release £80m in funding to help companies recruit more apprentices, but called for this money to be focussed on the areas of greatest need i.e. SMEs in high value industries with severe skills gaps like building engineering services. “The Chancellor’s fund would have


more impact if it was targeted on areas where the Government itself has identified the need to drive up productivity and improve project delivery,” said Mr Howard. “Construction-related professions have always been relatively conservative in


their training habits and investment fell sharply in the wake of the financial crash – we are now feeling the full impact of that and our skills gap is starting to look like a chasm.”


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The trade union Unite has been equally scathing of what it calls “dead end courses” that were undermining efforts to improve skills across the wider construction industry. A freedom of information request to the Government’s Skills Funding Agency revealed that 203,400 people undertook a full-time or part-time construction course in 2016/17, but only 10% were linked to an apprenticeship course; and most were purely classroom-based. Unite said the funding going to


colleges and private training providers should be refocused and used to promote a greater number of “genuine apprenticeships”. It said too many young people were “having their hopes of a construction career crushed”. “Thousands of people are applying


for apprenticeships, but there are not enough places available and colleges are piling on ‘dead end courses’ which deny young people the qualifications needed for a career in construction,” said assistant general secretary Gail Cartmail. Mr Howard also called on


employers to engage with training providers to reinforce the message that many courses are no longer fit for purpose: “There are still a lot of employers walking into the skills ‘chasm’ with their eyes shut, but we can help them access the funding for new style apprenticeships and get on with building the next generation of engineers.”


www.theBESA.com/training


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