Revealed: The £1bn apprenticeship rip-off

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “If the apprenticeship levy is not meeting the needs of businesses or the young people it is supposed to help succeed, the government should make further reforms and stop these vital funds being siphoned off to subsidise MBAs for well paid executives.” Senior leader apprenticeships are typically aimed at chief executives, chief financial officers and heads of department. The ‘senior leader’ standard, with around 21,000 starts over the last five years, has attracted almost £300m of apprenticeship funding since 2017.” Tom Richmond, director of EDSK, said: “Use of the levy to part-fund MBAs at business schools is enormously frustrating but it is only the tip of the iceberg. “The government should immediately scrap all these fake ‘apprenticeships’ at master’s level, but successive ministers have refused to do so even as young people continue to miss out on apprenticeship opportunities due to a lack of funding.” Robert Halfon, minister for skills, apprenticeships and higher education, said: “Degree-level apprenticeships are growing in popularity and made up 12 per cent of all starts in the last academic year, but the idea that this is somehow disadvantaging young people is nonsense. “Ministers must immediately close this loophole, reform the apprenticeship levy which is not fit for purpose and devolve more powers to London, so we can build a local apprenticeship service that works for those who need it most.” Ofsted chief Ms Spielman added: “I have said before that relabelling management training as apprenticeships, to be paid for by the levy fund, is bad practice.