Traineeships were introduced in 2013, targeted at people aged 16-24 who are unemployed, with less than level 3 qualifications, who were deemed ready for an apprenticeship or job within 6 months. But this disregarded policy never made the expected impact and starts have been falling since 2015.

Furlough has seen a sharp increase in unemployment, especially in sectors which employ disproportionate numbers of young people, such as hospitality. 

It could take several years for the economy to return to pre COVID-19 levels, and we’re sure to see higher than usual youth unemployment in the coming years.

Combined with entire cohorts of young people who have missed months of school now, the increase in youth unemployment means we’re in serious danger of a lost generation. 

Can the long-neglected policy of traineeships help?

Traineeship funding and traineeship statistics

Government doesn’t publish precise figures for traineeship spend. Actually, they don’t publish a lot of detailed statistics about traineeships at all. 

The situation is muddied further by the traineeship funding arrangements. Trainees aged 16-18 are funded under the young people funding methodology, while those aged 19-24 are funded under the Adult Education Budget. 

We do know that starts fell consistently between 2015/16 (24,100) and 2018-19 (14,900), and around 80% of participants in 2018-19 were under 19. However, we’re likely to see a drastic increase in starts as well as a demographic shift in participants following the announcement of an extra £111m to “triple” the number of traineeships. 

The answer to a written question to the Department for Education suggested that in 2019-20 (and pre-pandemic), £52 million was “held” nationally for traineeships “and continuing learners.”  An extra £111m being enough to triple participation tends to confirm that figure.

Government will use the funds to incentivize employers to take on trainees with £1,000 payments as well as expanding the scheme to participants with level 3 qualifications.

Early figures for traineeships started in 2018/19 show that completions jumped 20% year on year from 66.5% to 79.4%, a figure which is expected to rise once full completion data has been collected, while ministers have boasted about the programme’s 75% rate of progressions into jobs or further training.

What can traineeships offer the further education system?

Youth unemployment has jumped to 12.5% following the COVID pandemic and claimant counts for Universal Credit in the 16-24 age group have more than doubled from 241,000 to 522,000. 

We are already the least productive country in the G7, and it’s believed our skills gap is a big part of that. Solid research has demonstrated that the pipelines of learners between level 2-3 and higher level qualifications is a major contributor, and a lost year of education and career-building due to the pandemic will do little to help. 

I’m all in favor of the government’s plans for a “German style” skills system, but some young people just aren’t ready for apprenticeships, academic study, or other training.

Traineeships have high success rates and high approval rates from participants. With the renewed focus we’ve seen in previous weeks, they could play an important role in bridging our skills gap and mitigating our youth unemployment problem.

Traineeship roundup

My feeling has been that traineeships were always a pet policy of the government that failed to get the traction it deserved, largely as a result of our mess of a skills system combined with a decade of FE cuts.

To make a success out of it, the government will need to rethink the way it communicates about traineeships and really focus on highlighting their benefits for young people, employers, and providers.

Of special importance will be ensuring that the programme’s expansion will not be used by employers to exploit young people and remove paying jobs from the market. Young people aren’t stupid, and the scheme will lose all credibility if they think they’re being taken for a ride. Careful supervision will be needed to avoid a repeat of past workfare scandals.

Are you a training provider interested in delivering traineeships? I’m always available to consult - just send me a message on LinkedIn now.