6 years on since the publication of the Richard Review, which ushered in a new approach to developing and delivering apprenticeships, Tom interviews Chinara Rustamova, Senior Policy Advisor Education and Skills, Federation of Small Businesses; and Charlotte Bosworth, Managing Director, Innovate Awarding / Chair, End-Point Assessment Operational Group, Federation of Awarding Bodies.

Apprenticeship starts have plummeted by around 20 per cent since the introduction of the Levy and new Standards. Non-Levy small businesses are struggling to access funding for the apprenticeship slots that they are prepared to offer.

“Providing 20 per cent off the job training is a real challenge for small businesses… We need to sort the looming challenge of the funding issue”, according to Chinara Rustamova, who authored the FSB’s report, ‘Fit for the Future: Making the Apprenticeship System Work for Small Businesses’.

On the challenges faced by end-point assessment organisations (EPAOs), Charlotte Bosworth said: “We need to come together, employers, providers, EPAOs — to come up with a better, more collaborative approach, to delivering high-quality apprenticeships."

Topics covered include:

~The barriers faced by small firms taking on apprentices
~The collapse of 16-24 year old apprentices and what can be done about it
~Controversy about Level 2 business administration apprenticeships no longer being available
~Whether it is immoral to allow senior managers to access the Apprenticeship Levy to pay for Management degrees
~The future of the Levy
~What is required to make a success of the end-point assessment model
~Views from small businesses about the government’s new T-Level programme and awareness levels