Apprenticeships Update.

The Welsh Government has published its key Apprenticeship Priorities and Apprenticeship Action Plan. Key areas include:

• Delivering a minimum of 100,000 quality all age apprenticeships over the next 5 years.
• Increasing the number of higher apprenticeships and piloting degree apprenticeships particularly in science, technology, engineering and professional routes. These new apprenticeships will be developed in conjunction with employers, sector bodies, Sector Skills Councils (SSCs), FE and HEIs across Wales over the next couple of years.
• Improving apprenticeship credibility and integration into the education system to get more school leavers (16-19) to join the programme.
• Revising systems to develop framework learning content to be more responsive to often rapidly changing employer needs.
• Developing opportunities that enable all stakeholders to work together to create a stronger sustainable intelligence led system.
• Maintaining completion rates at over 80% and introducing additional measures of quality such as destination data which will look at future earnings and other benefits.

The funding model will remain the same with the Welsh Government paying for most of the training with help from the European Social Fund. Funding is agreed locally with each employer and they may be required to contribute towards some of the training costs.