Minister pledges to stamp out fake apprenticeships

COMPANIES that promote fake apprenticeships are facing government action, after one firm provided just six days training in a year.

Nick Boles, the skills minister, is calling on the public to report evidence of unscrupulous employers who offer low-grade training but label it an “apprenticeship”.

He wants to raise the standards of these courses – which combine work with study for a college qualification – as part of the Government’s drive to create three million apprenticeships by the end of the decade.

Government grants are available for employers in England who hire apprentices, providing they offer training in job-specific skills and opportunities for work alongside experienced staff, while studying for a qualification.

Mr Boles will call for evidence this week, seeking examples of poor-quali- ty training schemes that are being mislabelled as apprenticeships.

He said: “We will leave no stone unturned when it comes to promoting apprenticeships as a route to a rewarding career.

“This Government has made sure that apprenticeships are jobs with highquality training lasting more than a year.

“We don’t want their status to be undermined by those unscrupulously passing off short courses as apprenticeships. We are inviting employers and apprentices to join us in stamping out abuse of the system.”

One firm claiming to be offering apprenticeships was found to be training employees in IT skills on just six days a year, rather than for one or two days per week as is normal.

Ministers are expected to announce plans to define an apprenticeship in law in an attempt to make it easier to enforce high standards of training.