Welsh Apprenticeships soar to a record high: New figures reveal dramatic increases in work-based learning
27 Mar 2014 04:17 PM
Latest figures for work-based learning in Wales
have shown a dramatic rise in the number of people starting an
apprenticeship
The
figures show that in 2012/13 just over 28,000 people in Wales started
apprenticeships – compared to 17,900 in 2011/12.
Meanwhile, the overall figure for work-based learning
provision in Wales increased dramatically by 14.5% to over 61,000 unique
learners in 2012/13 – higher than in any of the previous 5 years and up
from 53,480 in 2011/12.
Higher Apprenticeships have also seen an unprecedented
surge in popularity, with the latest figures showing that 2,275 Higher
Apprenticeship starts were created. This compares to just 280 in
2011/12.
The
number of full-time learners in Further Education has seen an increase of
3.8%.
Deputy Minister for Skills and Technology, Ken Skates,
has hailed the latest figures as further evidence of the success of the Welsh
Government’s Apprenticeship Programme.
The
Apprenticeship Programme is part-financed by European Structural
Funds.
The
Deputy Minister said:
“As the latest labour market statistics have
shown, youth unemployment is falling faster in Wales than it is in the
UK.
“These record apprenticeship figures provide a
very powerful demonstration of why Wales is bucking this trend.
“Twenty eight thousand new apprentices, in one
year, is an impressive figure and many of these new learners will continue with
their apprenticeship training during well into next year. Financial
support is in place to ensure they continue with their learning so they can
achieve their apprenticeship aspirations.
“I’m particularly pleased to see the
significant increase in those securing Higher Apprenticeship
places.
“Higher Apprenticeships should be on a level
footing with a place at a top university and today’s figures show that
we’re certainly heading in the right direction in achieving
this.
“Apprenticeships offer a unique package of
support, qualifications and experience and make no mistake – they are
playing their part in bringing down long term youth
unemployment.
“That’s why the Welsh Government has
invested additional funding in its Apprenticeship Programme and, as these
figures suggest, we’re seeing a fantastic return on this
investment”