Government should scrap sub-standard Programme Led Apprenticeships

Construction union UCATT have welcomed the major conclusions of a new study into apprenticeships undertaken by the Skills Commission.

In particular the report argues that an expansion in apprenticeships should not be at the expense of quality.

UCATT support this and has been campaigning against attempts by employers and ConstructionSkills (the Government agency responsible for providing construction apprentices), to dilute the quality of construction apprenticeships through the establishment of Programme Led Apprenticeships.

A traditional craft based construction apprenticeship is three years in length, apprentices spend four days working on site and one day a week in college they have the opportunity to achieve an NVQ Level 3. Under a PLA a young person spends two years entirely at college and then if an employer can be found spends 9-12 months on site, but can only achieve an NVQ Level 2.

College construction courses are affected by very high drop out rates, as the students who undertake them are seeking a more vocational education and do not wish to be confined to a classroom for 2 years. Under a PLA there is no guarantee of an employment placement at the end of a college course, if a placement cannot be found, the person involved cannot get their NVQ and the course becomes almost worthless.

Apprentices who achieve NVQ level 3 are fully skilled and can achieve higher wage rates. Those who only achieve NVQ Level 2 are considered to be semi-skilled and face lower wages and fewer employment opportunities.

Alan Ritchie, General Secretary of UCATT, said: “The Skills Commission report is to be welcomed its main conclusions are entirely in the right direction. The Government should apply the report’s findings to the construction industry and abolish the failed PLA model.”

The Skills Minister John Denham has given unprecedented backing to boosting the number of construction apprentices. He has pledged to increase the number of construction apprentices by 7,000 in the next 12 months and vastly increase the number of apprentices on Government procured projects.

Under Mr Denham’s proposals construction companies will not be able to win tenders unless they recruit and train sufficient numbers of apprentices.

Despite this massive planned increase in the number of apprentices in construction, ConstructionSkills have instead focussed their energies on undermining the apprentice framework, by trying to create part-time apprentices and removing the requirement that an apprentice should work for only one employer.

Mr Ritchie, added: “ConstructionSkills are part of the problem and not part of the solution when it comes to boosting the number of highly qualified construction apprentices.”