Apprenticeship Wage Credit

Summary

Years of neglect by successive governments have resulted in a decline in the number of apprenticeships. Britain needs a Skills Revolution. As the first step in our plan to reach 600,000 apprenticeship starts per year by the end of Reform’s first Parliament in office, we will revitalise apprenticeships with a wage credit for SME apprenticeships, delivering the skilled workforce that Britain needs.

not in employment, education, or training and 400,000 graduates are on Universal Credit; job vacancies are at a five year low.

workers due to retire in the coming years.

governments have made it more difficult and expensive to hire and train the next generation of British workers.

they take on aged 16-18. This reduces the burden of taking on an apprentice, saving the average SME over £4,000 a year per apprentice, and enabling more young people to develop skills that will benefit them and Britain.

worker will be paid to workers when they’ve completed two additional years of work at the firm they apprenticed with. This will reassure employers that the workers they invest in will stick around.

Parliament - and this is the first in a series of policy announcements which will help a Reform UK Government achieve that goal.

Foreword by Nigel Farage and Suella Braverman

Britain used to be a nation that built and made things. Be it ships, shoes, trains, textiles, or cars, we have a proud industrial, technical and vocational heritage. Masters and apprentices worked together with the young workers providing a service, earning a wage and developing their skills at the same time. Working people taught working people a trade and Britain was better for it. Our apprenticeships helped build the modern world, helping transform us into the workshop of the globe. Over successive decades and by consecutive governments that proud heritage has been obliterated. Over one million young people are not in employment, education or training. 1 700,000 university graduates are out of work and claiming benefits with 400,000 on Universal Credit.2 Excluding COVID, apprenticeship starts are languishing at levels not seen since 2010. In 2024/25, just 354,000 new apprenticeships were started down from a record high of 521,000 in 2011/12. 3 We have a skills crisis and to fix it, we need a Skills Revolution. The political class have wilfully turned a blind eye towards problems with the Apprenticeship Levy. Following its introduction in 2017, today there are 141,000 fewer apprenticeships being started.4 Just one in five new apprenticeships go to a young person under 19.5 To add insult to injury, successive governments have chosen to import cheap foreign labour at the expense of training up our own young men and women. The current system is failing young people, businesses and our economy. Radical change is needed. Reform UK wants an economic and social renaissance, not out of jingoistic pride but because our country needs it. We need a restoration and renewal of this country, so that once again, we are training up our own with the skills that we all need to be a functioning country. Unless we change course, that will not happen. Apprenticeship starts are down 40% in manufacturing and engineering.6 They have declined by a third in painting and decorating and plummeted by 75% in health and social care.7 One fifth of the engineering workforce are due to retire in the next five years. 8 If we don’t do something profound now, we will have no skilled workers left. Britain will become a vast emptiness of nothing, reliant on the Square Mile in the City of London and foreign drivers delivering food and goods on an endless parade of mopeds to keep us going. Is that what we really want for our once great country? Our towns and cities already look less like the Britain many of us grew up in. Nearly half of the British people say they feel disconnected from where they live, like strangers in their own towns and villages. This has to stop and under Reform UK, it will. So many British owned businesses are crying out for help. They want to invest in our future workforce, but struggle to do so as their tax bill endlessly rises. Countless SMEs have told us that they would love to be able to afford to take on an apprentice, but they are busy counting every penny just to get by. For years, governments have wasted money on useless degrees and ungrateful universities when the backbone of Britain, real Britain, the men and women who get up and go to work in the dark and come home in the dark have been ignored. That is why Reform UK will introduce the Apprenticeship Wage Credit. We will cut the cost of hiring an apprentice by 30%, saving the average SME over £4,000 a year per apprentice hired. This is a huge step change that dramatically rethinks how we treat homegrown vocational and technical skills. If we want the British plumbers, painters, carpenters, welders, bricklayers, mechanics, engineers and care workers of the future then the Government must be prepared to step up and take on some of the cost by standing shoulder to shoulder with business. But we will not stop there, SMEs have told us that the big problem with apprenticeships is not only recruitment, but retention. Too many SMEs fear taking on an apprentice because

they are training up future competitors. So we have listened. We will go further and introduce the Apprenticeship Retention Bonus, worth £2,000. If a young apprentice stays with the employer who invested with them for two years, after completing their apprenticeship, they will receive a bonus in cash. The bonus demonstrates that we are serious about backing responsible SMEs that want to invest in young British talent. It also shows that in order to generate the Skills Revolution that we need, Reform UK will back young people right at the start of their careers. We will do this by shifting funding into further vocational and technical education. Our targets are ambitious, a record 600,000 new apprentices per year by the end of our first term in office will not be easy. But, we are not in politics because we want an easy life. We must deliver a Skills Revolution to save this country from the abyss. We will ban all foreign students from accessing a taxpayer funded loan to pay for their university studies and we will come down like a tonne of bricks on taxpayer-funded Mickey Mouse degrees from third rate universities. No more public subsidies for woke nonsense like Gender Studies or Critical Race Theory. Our Apprenticeship Wage Credit will also save money by getting young people off welfare and into work. Our advice to young people is simple. Work hard and in a sector of national importance, Reform UK will invest in you and back you every step of the way. The Apprenticeship Wage Credit is a downpayment on your future. Your success is our country’s success and we want a stake in it. We are on your side and that is why we are willing to invest in you right at the beginning of your career. Apprenticeships are broken. Apprenticeships need Reform. Nigel Farage MP Suella Braverman MP

CONTENTS

Summary

Foreword from Nigel Farage and Suella Braverman

Introduction

Apprenticeship Policy to Date

Wage Credit for Businesses Employing Apprentices

Apprenticeship Retention Bonus

Costings

Cutting Red Tape

Appendix

Endnotes

Introduction

Britain faces crises on multiple fronts due to years of failed policies and short termism. To get Britain back on track we need to significantly boost infrastructure, build motorways, and construct more reservoirs - to end the annual charade of hosepipe bans - to name a few. None of these things can be achieved without addressing another crisis, the skills crisis. Despite Britain’s rich past, of industry and innovation, we have failed to teach the next generations the skills needed not just to continue that legacy, but to maintain our standard of living. The trades that many people have before taken for granted and that uniparty politicians have sneered at, are now in rapid decline. There is expected to be an acute shortage of plumbers within a decade.9 Half of all construction roles already go unfilled due to a lack of people with the relevant skills.10 This is not an abstract challenge. Millions left without the dignity of work, with over 1 million NEETs at risk of becoming part of the welfare class. It will prevent us from delivering the infrastructure that Britain badly needs. Whether it be the Government’s 1.5 million new homes target or the construction of the third runway at Heathrow, there are not enough skilled workers to get the job done.12 13 Reform UK will reindustrialise Britain, and has already committed to many policies toward that end, most notably ending Net Zero. This paper lays out how we will create the skilled workforce a modern industrialised economy needs to thrive. We will put power back in the hands of businesses, allowing them to train apprentices, saving them money and time, and we will reward SMEs who take on young people, by allowing them to claim a tax credit for every single young apprentice they take on. Taking on an apprentice will no longer be a cost for small business, it will be a cost saver. Reform UK will always back British Business and British workers.

Apprenticeship Policy to Date

Britain has a history of apprenticeships that dates back centuries, with a national system of apprenticeship training as early as the sixteenth century.14 British technical expertise later led to the Industrial Revolution, which underpinned our high standard of living and enormous international influence. The system was revitalised in the 1990s, leading to an increased uptake of 250,000 per year. 15 Today, apprenticeships remain one of the best ways for a young person to start their career. A majority of an apprentice’s week is spent working, and the remaining portion dedicated to formal training or studying for a qualification. Apprenticeships let people earn money earlier than their peers without a mountain of debt, gain skills that are constantly in demand, and climb the career ladder early. From the traditional trades like plumbing and bricklaying, to care work, business administration, and technology, there is hardly a sector or business that cannot benefit. However, in the past few decades, governments have chopped and changed the system, to the detriment of apprenticeships. The Richard Review in 2012 uncovered a host of problems: qualifications had proliferated; employers and industry were not involved in designing apprenticeships, instead government tick-boxing dominated; there were mismatches between qualifications and industry need; and assessments were often badly handled and of poor quality. Changes that followed included the creation of the Apprenticeship Levy in 2017, which requires large companies to set aside funds for apprenticeship training. The result of a lack of strategic direction under successive Conservative and Labour governments is that apprenticeships have been falling out of favour. Total starts have plummeted from half a million in 2011/12 to 354,000 in 2024/25.16 Employers advertised for 150,000 vacancies in 2018/19, but just under 70,000 in the last year.17 Even more concerning is the composition of apprenticeship starts. Apprenticeships can be split into three categories. ‘Intermediate’ is the most accessible, requiring the fewest qualifications required before starting. But this category is shrinking as a proportion of total apprenticeships, going from 43 per cent in 2017/18 to 19 per cent in 2024/25.18 Intermediate apprentices are also most likely to live in disadvantaged areas.19 Young people are being left behind by the apprenticeship system: last year, over half of all starts were by over-25s, while under-19s saw their share drop to a mere 21 per cent. 20 The people and places which could benefit most from an apprenticeship are being failed.

Education Needs Reform

This is part of a wider failure in our education system. We take a one-size fits all approach to our young people, forcing people onto the university track or discarding them altogether. Regardless of the talents of the individual pupils, we only recognise one form of ‘success’ in our schools, with academic attainment prized above all else. Unsurprisingly, the result is a lack of interest in formal education by large portions of young people who would rather be in the workplace. This approach has also left us short of the very things that our economy needs: technical skills. Our political class, who never understood the value of a practical career, have turned the nation that started the Industrial Revolution into one where ‘skills shortage’ is something that every employer struggles with on a regular basis. The resulting economic and social difficulties are concentrated in our former industrial heartlands in the Midlands and North, which successive governments have failed to help. On top of these errors, we’ve undercut British workers with an unprecedented level of immigration. The job and housing markets have been saturated, despite record levels of youth unemployment, and National Insurance hikes have made it even more difficult to

employ someone who is just starting out their career. A million young people are not in education, employment, or training, with many on Universal Credit. The Labour government has only made matters worse over the past two years as they have significantly increased the cost of hiring. Their hike in employer National Insurance, raising the rate to 15% and lowering the threshold to just £5,000, has increased the cost of each new minimum wage employee by approximately £800. Further, they have continued to oversee meaningful annual increases in the minimum wage. The rising cost of hiring changes the calculus that small firms make regarding the risk of new hires. This is clearly reflected in the collapse of job vacancies to a five year low, driven by small firms scaling back recruitment.21 Equally, the Labour Government has failed to control the ballooning welfare state they inherited from the Conservatives, which enables young people not to work. The Employment Rights Act has only compounded this, raising the legal risk of hiring new staff, again hitting young people the hardest at a time when we can ill afford to do so. Reform UK has already pledged to reverse Rachel Reeves’ Jobs Tax for British workers. We will set out more of our approach to fixing other Labour failures in due course. This policy paper focuses on how we’re going to increase the availability of apprenticeships for school leavers. We will provide a real alternative to further education for young people that thrive best in hands-on technical education, and support the small and medium sized enterprises who take them on.

Wage Credit for Businesses Employing Apprentices

Reform UK will reverse the collapse in apprenticeships and back the SMEs that are the backbone of our country. We will introduce the Apprenticeship Wage Credit: a 30 per cent credit on apprentice wages. This tax credit is targeted at SMEs with a pay bill up to £3 million (that is, companies that do not pay the apprenticeship levy.) Eligible firms will be able to claim 30 per cent of apprentices’ wages as a credit against their tax bill, worth £4,742 per worker per year. Current support contributes towards the apprentice’s formal training, but does nothing to support the bottom line of employers. This policy does. Our long term goal is 600,000 apprenticeships a year in England within five years, and this is our first step towards it. Small businesses are already making a huge contribution to Britain, producing products people want and providing local employment. In recent years they have done this against the backdrop of the highest energy costs in the developed world and the highest taxes in a century. The challenges they face are immense, that is why, as they seek to find and train their next generation of staff, Reform UK will ensure that the government does not leave them unsupported to bear the risk of taking on an apprentice. This is not a handout. It is allowing small businesses to keep more of their hard earned money, in recognition of their investment in the next generation. Our policy recognises the positive impact of apprenticeships for small businesses and the country alike. Individuals who are regularly neither in work or education from the ages of 16 to 24 are six times more likely to be out of work later in life, and three times more likely to be in poor health.22 Helping these individuals into work helps all of us. And it’s small businesses which offer the entry-level apprenticeships that we need more of. Apprenticeships are categories as Intermediate, Advanced, or Higher, in ascending order of difficulty. Analysis by the Centre for Social Justice found that 89.2 per cent of all apprenticeship starts at small businesses are at Intermediate or Advanced level, compared to 75 per cent at large businesses.23 Reform UK backs these entrepreneurs, which is why our tax credit focuses on businesses with a pay bill of under £3 million. That’s a size where employing new workers doesn’t get outsourced to some unknown part of the business, but will be part of the core team’s day to day work. These are the kind of firms that tend to offer more Intermediate or Advanced level apprenticeships, which have been in decline. Young people will hugely benefit from this policy. The number of firms able to offer apprenticeships will increase, and there will be new opportunities to work and simultaneously gain skills. A new cohort of young workers will have the ability to support themselves and family members. And the wider economy will benefit. These workers could be hired into the firm they apprenticed at, or strike out on their own in future, perhaps employing others in due course. They can serve other businesses and consumers, providing a boost to the economy across the country. In order to be eligible for this tax cut, several criteria must be met. The employer must have a wage bill below £3 million per annum. Apprentices must be between the ages of 16 and 18, and already have the right to work in the UK. They cannot have a prior qualification at or above that level in the same occupation. If an apprentice doesn’t meet all of these criteria, it would defeat the purpose of the policy: upskilling young British workers. Our young people need skills and a route to lasting employment, which the Apprenticeship Wage Credit will provide.

Apprenticeship Retention Bonus

After completion, it can be difficult to ensure that newly qualified workers stick around. Employers have made significant investment in that worker, but they might move on and even end up as a local competitor. This can dissuade employers from taking on apprentices and putting the hard work into their development that is necessary to turn out a top quality individual. To address this, and provide an incentive for workers to stick around, we will introduce the Apprenticeship Retention Bonus. This bonus of £2,000 per worker, paid when they’ve completed two years of service in a small firm after completion of the apprenticeship, rewards them for the hard work they’ve put in and enables firms to take on apprentices with confidence.24

Costings

The cost of the British Apprenticeship Wage Credit is driven by the following factors: the share of wages the government covers, the apprentice wage, and the number of apprentices in scope. Costings for the current population of apprenticeships are set out in the table below. Statutory apprentice wage £15,808 Share covered by the credit 30 per cent Credit per apprentice, full apprenticeship £8,333 Apprentices in scope today 39,891 Wage credit: cost per annual cohort £332 million Wage credit: cash over a Parliament £1,400 million Retention bonus: cash over a Parliament £85 million Total cost over a Parliament £1,486 million Our cost assumptions for a resultant growth in the target apprentice population are as follows: Growth in Apprenticeships for 16-18 y.o. Total cost over a Parliament 0% £1,486 million 10% £1,541 million 25% £1,620 million 50% £1,746 million 75% £1,864 million 100% £1,977 million All of the above scenarios assume that apprentice retention rate post apprenticeship completion remains static. Our fully loaded costings based on changes to the realised retention rate and growth of apprenticeship uptake are as follows: Base: no growth, 50% retention Upside: 50% growth, 65% retention Upside+: 100% growth, 80% retention Wage credit: cash in the parliament £1,400m £1,660m £1,890m Retention bonus: cash in the parliament £85m £111m £137m Package: cash in the parliament £1,486m £1,770m £2,027m

We expect to make significant savings by banning all foreign students from accessing taxpayer funded loans, and cracking down on taxpayer-funded Mickey Mouse degrees from third-rate universities in addition to other anticipated offsets including the cost of higher education and the counterfactual where these individuals claim other state support. The Apprenticeship Wage Credit also dovetails with our recently announced policy on Making Welfare Work: the young people moving back towards the labour market will need a route into skilled and lasting employment, and this credit provides it. Because it is paid only against the wages of an apprentice in qualifying training, every pound follows a young person into a real job rather than rewarding a hire an employer had already decided to make. More detail is provided in the Appendix.

Cutting Red Tape

In addition to the Apprenticeship Wage Credit and Retention Bonus, Reform UK will carry out a series of reforms to cut red tape for employers and apprentices, and raise awareness of the support available for apprenticeships.

Trusting Employers with Apprenticeship Training

Reform UK will allow qualifying employers to conduct their own training of apprentices in house, whilst continuing to allow them to outsource to third parties if they choose. This will remove significant cost and paperwork from SMEs. In recent decades, the rise of a technocratic governance class has fed the view that to be qualified one must have a certificate issued by a state approved body. This was most on display with Labour’s goal, carried forward by the Conservatives, that at least 50% of young people should go to university. However it has also been applied to apprenticeships, and is one of the most significant blockers to businesses taking them on. The idyllic view of an apprentice is a skilled tradesman taking on a teenager for a period of years, to learn under his tutelage. Today the apprentice must spend 6 hours of their working week away from their regular duties, sometimes even in a classroom.25 This is suboptimal for young people who often choose the apprenticeship route to get proper work experience. The classroom environment is not conducive to many people’s learning needs. It is even worse for the employer, who having taken a risk with often limited resources must now release, and pay the apprentice to spend hours in a classroom. This is a significant cost for the employer. Not only is the cost significant, but also the bureaucracy. The employer is responsible for finding, choosing and arranging a training provider. 26 Whilst this may be a minor inconvenience for large businesses with HR departments, for small SMEs it is a psychological and practical barrier to entry. That is why Reform UK will focus on skills not credentials and will allow employers to conduct the training of their apprenticeships in-house, according to their professional judgement and industry standards. They can focus on practical on the job training, or set aside time for book based learning if necessary. External providers can still be used but it will be optional. Of course, in trades where there are implications for public safety, qualifications will be required, but again it will be for qualified employers to map out the route. Where outside approval may be necessary, it should be trade associations that carry out assessments in the first instance. We will consult on this regime when in Government.

Entrance Requirements and Additional Learning

It should be for employers to decide the entry requirements to their apprenticeship, and whether apprentices need to achieve a level 2 qualification in English and maths to complete an apprenticeship. This is currently mandatory for 16-18 year olds, despite being made optional for apprentices aged 19 and over. 27 This arbitrary age cut-off makes no sense, creating a hurdle for younger people to finish an apprenticeship. Employers know what competent looks like at any age, and it doesn’t always correlate with someone’s school results or passing a particular exam. This ensures that more people can complete apprenticeships, trusting employers to know when they’re ready and able to progress.

Online Systems

The Apprenticeship Service, the current online system for employers, is complex and wastes employers’ time. Reform UK will introduce a one-stop shop online system that contains the contracts, employer handbook and paperwork the business needs, as well as transparency on the tax cut side. Automation can be used to speed up this process.

Apprenticeships are currently classified into three different levels: Intermediate, Advanced, and Higher, supposedly based on difficulty. For apprentices and employers alike, it’s not clear what these categories are referring to. An apprenticeship is an inherently job-based qualification. Instead of this bureaucratic system, apprenticeships should be classified by occupation, with ranked standards within each occupation creating clarity for apprentices and employers.28 (The Apprenticeship Wage Credit will still only be available for apprentices who have not completed an earlier qualification at or above that standard in that occupation.)

Raising Awareness of Apprenticeship Scheme Support

A CSJ/YouGov survey found that two thirds of employers were not aware of available support from the government for apprenticeships, including 42 per cent of those who currently employ apprentices and 79 per cent of firms with fewer than fifty employees. 29 This is a huge missed opportunity to support SMEs and encourage them to take on more apprentices. Employers need to know what support is available. To address this, Reform UK will automate the Apprenticeship Service’s (improved) website so that relevant grants and bursaries are automatically applied to participating SMEs. This will save them time and will ensure that they are enabled to take advantage of all available government support. It shouldn’t be the job of employers to work out every possible scheme that they might qualify for.

Appendix

Wage credit: 30 per cent of wages at the statutory floor (£15,808 a year, uprated in line with the NLW), paid for the full apprenticeship (18 to 27 months by level), on a base of 39,891 non-levy under-19 starts a year (DfE). The credit stops if the apprentice leaves; 66.1 per cent complete (DfE, 2024/25). Retention bonus: £2,000 on completing and serving two further years at the same small employer. 30 per cent of the 84,770 small-employer starts qualify; £51 million per admission year. Cost of Retention Bonus by changes to post completion retention rates Base: 50% stay Upside: 65% stay Upside+: 80% stay Expected cost per start £603 £784 £965 Cost per admission year £51m £66m £82m Cash within the Parliament £85m £108m £132m Additionally retained apprentices - 38,300 76,700 All-in cost per additionally retained - £9,400 £5,800 Marginal cost per additionally retained - £2,100 £2,100

Cash by fiscal year (assuming no change to retention rate) Assuming 0% growth in target apprentice population Fiscal year Wage credit Retention bonus Total 2027-28 £73m £6m £79m 2028-29 £253m £2m £255m 2029-30 £342m £2m £344m 2030-31 £359m £21m £380m 2031-32 £373m £53m £427m Within a Parliament £1,400m £85m £1,485m Assuming 50% growth in target apprentice population Fiscal year Wage credit Retention bonus Total 2027-28 £73m £6m £79m 2028-29 £261m £2m £264m 2029-30 £379m £2m £381m 2030-31 £440m £21m £461m 2031-32 £506m £54m £561m Within a Parliament £1,660m £86m £1,746m Assuming 100% growth in target apprentice population Fiscal year Wage credit Retention bonus Total 2027-28 £73m £6m £79m 2028-29 £267m £2m £270m 2029-30 £409m £2m £412m 2030-31 £510m £21m £531m 2031-32 £631m £55m £686m Within a Parliament £1,890m £87m £1,977m

Cash by fiscal year (fully loaded costs) Assuming 0% growth in target apprentice population and no change to retention Fiscal year Wage credit Retention bonus Total 2027-28 £73m £6m £79m 2028-29 £253m £2m £255m 2029-30 £342m £2m £344m 2030-31 £359m £21m £380m 2031-32 £373m £53m £427m Within a Parliament £1,400m £85m £1,485m Assuming 50% growth in target apprentice population and 65% retention Fiscal year Wage credit Retention bonus Total 2027-28 £73m £7m £80m 2028-29 £261m £3m £264m 2029-30 £379m £3m £382m 2030-31 £440m £27m £467m 2031-32 £506m £71m £577m Within a Parliament £1,660m £111m £1,770m Assuming 100% growth in target apprentice population and 80% retention Fiscal year Wage credit Retention bonus Total 2027-28 £73m £8m £80m 2028-29 £267m £4m £271m 2029-30 £409m £4m £413m 2030-31 £510m £34m £543m 2031-32 £631m £88m £719m Within a Parliament £1,890m £137m £2,027m

Endnotes

1. https:/ /www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly9rq35de8o 2. https:/ /www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/newsroom/700000-jobless-graduates-now-claiming-benefits 3. https:/ /commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn06113/ 4. Ibid. 5. https:/ /explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships/2025-26 6. https:/ /www.makeuk.org/news-and-events/news/calls-skills-investment-pledge-reverse-plummeting-apprenticeship-numbers 7. https:/ /www.darttoolgroup.com/the-apprenticeship-gap-2025, https:/ /www.edgeworks.co.uk/key-insights-on-adult-social-care-apprenticeships/ 8. https:/ /madeingroup.madeinthemidlands.com/news/1-in-5-manufacturers-will-be-retired-by-2026 9. https:/ /www.nesta.org.uk/blog/will-we-have-a-shortage-of-plumbers-in-a-decade/ 10. https:/ /www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/aug/13/the-guardian-view-on-construction-workers-the-country-needs-more-of-them-fast 11. https:/ /www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peoplenotinwork/unemployment/bulletins/ youngpeoplenotineducationemploymentortrainingneet/may2026 12. https:/ /www.theguardian.com/business/2025/feb/02/can-we-build-it-no-because-britain-may-not-have-enough-workers 13. https:/ /www.theguardian.com/business/2025/feb/02/can-we-build-it-no-because-britain-may-not-have-enough-workers 14. https:/ /commonslibrary.parliament.uk/a-short-history-of-apprenticeships-in-england-from-medieval-craft-guilds-to-the-twenty-first-century/ 15. Ibid. 16. https:/ /www.gov.uk/government/news/apprenticeships-starts-almost-double-in-two-years; https:/ /explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/ find-statistics/apprenticeships/2025-26 17. https:/ /explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/fast-track/e3ac3d1b-91e9-452d-0ee5-08de529c2eb2?featuredTable=true 18. https:/ /researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN06113/SN06113.pdf 19. https:/ /www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/CSJJ8393-Apprenticeships-200806-v2-final-web-version.pdf 20. https:/ /explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships/2025-26 21. https:/ /www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn9nwx090v9o 22. https:/ /cls.ucl.ac.uk/being-neet-in-early-adulthood-has-scarring-effect-into-midlife/ 23. As defined by those with a payroll large enough to pay the Apprenticeship Levy or not, p.51 https:/ /www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/wp-content/ uploads/2020/10/CSJJ8393-Apprenticeships-200806-v2-final-web-version.pdf 24. Small firm here refers to a company with under 50 employees. 25. https:/ /www.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeships-off-the-job-training/apprenticeship-off-the-job-training-guidance--2 26. https:/ /www.apprenticeships.gov.uk/employers/choose-training-provider 27. https:/ /www.gov.uk/government/publications/english-and-maths-requirements-in-apprenticeship-standards-at-level-2-and-above/english-and- maths-requirements-in-apprenticeships-guidance 28. p.57 https:/ /www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/CSJ-Rewiring_Education.pdf 29. p.66-69 https:/ /www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/CSJJ8393-Apprenticeships-200806-v2-final-web-version.pdf

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