Workplace trainers say government is keeping apprentices from full-time work

Workplace coaching companies in England have accused the governing administration of protecting against an estimated 62,000 apprentices from getting up entire-time employment by refusing to unwind the policies for the maths and English checks wanted to qualify.

The Affiliation of Work and Finding out Suppliers, the industry trade body, said the Division for Education has unsuccessful to act inspite of repeated warnings that constraints imposed throughout pandemic had been leading to a logjam, with businesses struggling capabilities shortages as a consequence.

Apprentices are not able to sit their final checks mainly because the governing administration has refused to unwind the policy that they should be examined at their position of do the job by external invigilators, who are prevented from attending mainly because of coronavirus constraints.

“AELP has been lobbying the capabilities minister Gillian Keegan for months on this problem,” controlling director Jane Hickie said. “She acknowledges there is an problem now but we still have not arrived at a alternative. If we had been conversing about GCSEs and A stages, motion would have been taken.”

The trade body estimate of the backlog, based on a survey of its 600 users, is practically 4 periods larger than the most recent official governing administration facts, which the FT obtained by a Flexibility of Information and facts ask for.

Competencies minister Gillian Keegan acknowledges there is an problem now but we still have not arrived at a alternative. If we had been conversing about GCSEs and A stages, motion would have been taken

The DfE put the amount of apprenticeships “past their end date” in November at 16,four hundred but said not all of these had been mainly because of trainees getting not able to full their maths and English checks, identified as functional ability qualification assessments or FSQs.

It said it had responded to the issue with a amount of actions, which includes extending the window in which apprentices could sit the test and suspending some needs. “Where functional capabilities qualification assessments have been disrupted we launched many flexibilities to alleviate some of the instant time pressures which includes extending the dates for legacy FSQs right up until 31 July,” the DfE said in a statement.

Ms Hickie said she was “staggered” that the governing administration was still insisting on place of work tests when they are possibly closed or external website visitors, this sort of as invigilators, are not authorized in, adding: “Does it hear to the chief health-related officer?”

The AELP and other instruction bodies have presented options to very clear the apprentice backlog, which includes assessments similar to those authorized for GCSE and A level pupils last yr.

Metropolis & Guilds, which offers vocational assessment and accreditation for apprenticeships, is at the moment managing trials for distant tests and has a short while ago opened a few tests centres in London, Birmingham and Bristol.

David Phillips, Metropolis & Guilds controlling director, said that inspite of endeavours by the additional instruction sector to do the job with the governing administration and regulator the backlog was continuing to develop. “Despite all of these interventions, tens of thousands of learners have been not able to full their functional capabilities qualifications due to the fact the pandemic started, with this amount raising all the time.”

Employers have complained of capabilities shortages as a consequence of getting not able to launch apprentices into employment unsupervised mainly because they have not concluded their coaching.

Sam Morris, the mastering and improvement manager at Dwelling from Dwelling Treatment, a care dwelling network for older people with mastering complications based in Lincolnshire, said the organization has sixty three apprentices on a payroll of about four hundred.

These trainees assortment from individuals coaching to be care personnel to those wanting to move up to supervisor roles. About 30 per cent of them need to have to full their maths and English checks.

“It is inhibiting their development,” Mr Morris said. “Testing maths and English capabilities is not one thing you can do remotely. You need to have someone wanting you in the eye.”

He added that devoid of a lot more educated employees, the company’s options to broaden its operations have been held back again.