An interesting development and a way for employers to reduce barriers to entry into their apprenticeship programmes for young people who are NEETs.

Young people fed back to us at the youth summit last year that entry criteria for apprenticeships were a barrier due to the high number of young people who are NEET having less than minimum apprenticeship entry requirement.

Apprentices entering the apprenticeship without a level 1 qualification will no longer be obliged to complete a level 2 qualification before finishing their apprenticeship, but instead be asked to complete a level 1 qualification. Time spent in training is moving to a set minimum of six hours rather than 20 per cent of the working week.

Key changes are as follows:

English and maths requirements for apprentices starting a Level 2 apprenticeship will change; for any apprentice starting without Level 1 English and maths they will no longer need to automatically attempt Level 2 English and maths to complete their apprenticeship. Apprentices can focus on securing a Level 1 English and maths qualification as a viable alternative.
Time spent in training will move from being based on working hours to a minimum number of hours. Currently apprentices must be in training for a minimum of 20 per cent of their working hours, whilst from August 2022, the minimum number of hours in training is six, irrespective of how many hours the apprentice is working.
Employers are invited submit any feedback on the clarity and understanding of the changes by 24 June 2022 to fundingrules.comments@education.gov.uk . A final version of rules, as applicable from August 2022, will be published in July.

Read the full summary of changes. Please note that as these are draft changes they are still subject to change.