No time for complacency in England’s long apprenticeship journeyProfessor Tom Bewick recently attended the inaugural international conference on delivery and policy of degree and higher apprenticeships. The following article is based on the speech he gave, held at Staffordshire University on 22 nd June 2023. In 1562, the English Parliament passed the world’s first recognised national apprenticeship legislation.The Statute of Artificers Act saw the transfer of power to regulate the supply of labour to the economy (mainly an agricultural society back then), from feudal guilds to the Elizabethan state.It feels like this country has been in a constant dialogue about the role and purpose of apprenticeship ever since.Whatever the century, at the heart of apprenticeship policy, you’ll find a real concern about how best to support the individual, who is in productive terms, still a novice.HOW DO WE ENABLE A PERSON TO FIND MASTERY IN THE SKILLS REQUIRED FOR A CHANGING WORLD OF WORK?As then, the challenge now, is broadly the same: how do we enable a person to find mastery in the skills required for a changing world of work?As the home of Josiah Wedgewood (1730-1795), Staffordshire knows all about innovation.Pioneering the idea of the industrial division of labour, Wedgewood was able to mass produce an array of ceramics products and export them all over the globe.He started his apprenticeship as a potter in 1744, at the age of 14, and by the time he reached 29, he had already set up the first factory to manufacture and experiment in new glazing techniques.As a lifelong abolitionist, Wedgewood campaigned against the slave trade.It’s great to see the spirit of apprenticeship continues to live on in Stoke-on-Trent today; and the wider potteries. Not only the pioneering work that Staffs Uni is doing in terms of degree apprenticeships, but also the many Level 2 apprentices that are employed by Wedgewood Waterford Royal Doulton, just down the road.In my speech today, I want to cover three questions:1 Where are we currently in England’s apprenticeship journey?2 Where are we specifically with degree apprenticeships?3 How can we work better together, both nationally and internationally, to boost all apprenticeships?YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENTBeing at an international gathering we all share a common interest in quality apprenticeship.To differing degrees, our economies, labour markets and social models face significant strain. Youth unemployment is, on average, up to three times the rate of general unemployment in most countries.In the UK currently, youth unemployment is 10.9 per cent (16-24 years old) – a massive waste of human talent. Yet, policymakers largely shrug their shoulders when they are challenged on the rapid decline in apprenticeships currently available for the under-25s.SO WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE?We need to end such complacency as soon as possible.It’s a few years old now, but the study by the McKinsey Centre for Government on youth employability and career transitions, provides an excellent backdrop to what we are discussing at this conference.The researchers found that employment progression for many people these days is akin to a broken bridge. What they were referring to was the transmission mechanism in the labour market – supply and demand – is at best, opaque.In other ways, the transmission mechanism from education into work is in crisis. Inactivity rates in Britain post-pandemic have soared, with more than 5 million people of working age counting as unproductive.Apprenticeships are vital, because they are one of a few really established ways of repairing the broken bridge, helping individuals transition from classroom study with the applied skills required in the workplace, particularly for young people.Skills gaps are not the figment of policy-makers’ imagination. The broken bridge metaphor is the result of labour markets functioning at a sub-optimal level. They are what the academics David Finegold and David Soskice described...
