With April marking a year since the Apprenticeship Levy was introduced, a survey of members from the People 1st Apprenticeship Network (made up of over 250 levy-paying employers in the hospitality, retail, travel, tourism and aviation sectors), set out to explore what progress they are making in implementing the changes and whether they are coming up against obstacles that are preventing a positive return from the levy.
The survey, http://www.people1st.co.uk/apprenticeship-pulse-report/, found that nearly two-thirds of employers are either confident or very confident that they will see a return on investment from their levy contribution. However, fewer than four out of 10 (38%) have a means of measuring their return as it currently stands.
The research was designed to assess progress in implementing the changes to apprenticeships and to identify any barriers preventing employers seeing a positive return from their investment. It comes hot on the heels of a spate of negative coverage on the apprenticeship levy from some quarters.
Better staff retention rates and improved skills and personal development were singled out as business critical benefits by nearly three-quarters (72%) of respondents as they align apprenticeships with the needs of their businesses. Many businesses are also finding apprenticeships valuable as a recruitment tool, while three quarters believe that the standards they are using include the relevant knowledge skills and behaviours required for occupations concerned.
Brian Leslie-Willetts, from Thomas Cook Airlines, said that the levy had motivated the business to invest in new apprenticeship trailblazers for cabin crew and pilots. “It’s been invigorating working with other industry players, and we feel these new standards will support new routes for apprentices into our business. Future talent is core to our strategy and the levy is enabling positive steps towards this,” he said.
The East of England Co-op is another business that has embraced the levy. Efie Burrell, learning and development consultant, said that the levy had already had a positive impact and that the L&D team had invested considerable time in briefing senior management and key stakeholders in order to give a feeling of true ownership of apprenticeships across the organisation.
“The scheme has exceeded all expectations, creating a capable line of succession for the future and increasing the performance of those already in management roles,” she said. “We’re also very proud that 100% of the apprentices that have completed their qualification are still working within our business, applying the skills and knowledge they’ve gained in their role. Thirty per cent of them are now enrolled on higher level apprenticeships, whilst 38 per cent have been promoted to more senior roles”, she added.
But in relation to the levy more generally, the jury is still out. Almost four out of ten employers (36%) feel happier about the levy than they did 12 months ago, a quarter (23%) feel less happy and over a third (41%) feel the same.
“Most of the ‘more happy’ is actually down to the work we have done in-house,” one employer told People 1st. “Apprenticeships had a bad reputation in our business previously, so any work done to turn things around has made a big impact. The flexibility of the new standards is good but the overall availability of appropriate standards is disappointing as is the lack of a professional qualification in most cases.”
While almost seven out of 10 (69%) employers surveyed said that they now have a coherent plan in place for their levy spend, some admitted that they were still a long way from completing their apprenticeship journey. “It’s taking too long, the process is too complicated, the business is very passive and the complexity of our business model hinders rapid progress,” one said. “The levy is creeping up and we have still been unable to use any of it.”
Another said that they were putting fewer people onto apprenticeships as a direct result of the levy. “We have shifted our focus to in-house programmes, where there is no qualification on offer, but we can train to our exact requirements. The introduction of the levy has seen 70% reduction in the number of apprentices within our business.”
The majority of employers (44%) still want greater clarity in relation to the conducting and recording of the 20% off-the-job training. Employers are also asking for greater clarity over implementing end-point assessment.
“The results present a largely positive picture of how businesses are implementing the levy and the changes, and it’s encouraging to see the value that employers are placing on the new apprenticeship standards in terms of the benefits they present,” said the report’s author, Martin-Christian Kent, executive director of People 1st.
“It’s clear from the findings that employers are at very different stages and whilst the vast majority are making significant headway, it is concerning that a considerable percentage of levy-paying employers are still only just embarking on their journey, which could undermine a positive return on their levy contribution.
“The most pressing challenge continues to be the extent to which the rest of the business understands and are buying into the changes. There is clearly more work to be done to address this and bust a variety of myths and misunderstandings that have built up. There are also opportunities for businesses to use evaluation techniques to help engage stakeholders from across the organisation and overcome specific barriers.”
The full report is available to download at: www.people1st.co.uk/Apprenticeship-pulse-report.