This IPPR report recommends that apprenticeship intermediaries should become an integral part of the policy solution, ensuring that all SMEs are able to access high-quality support.
Apprenticeships have the potential to make a transformative difference to the lives of learners and to the skills and productivity of businesses, but this potential is not currently being realised.
Barriers cited by businesses include a lack of high-quality information and practical support, and challenges navigating apprenticeship funding and accessing suitable provision, as well as the caps on non-levy apprenticeships imposed by government until April 2023.
In this context, an organic network of intermediary support has grown up in England, which reflects the central role this support plays in other apprenticeship systems across the world.
The specific activities of apprenticeship intermediaries relate closely to the challenges and barriers which businesses – and SMEs especially – face when engaging with the apprenticeships system. These activities include business engagement to increase demand for apprenticeships, practical support to navigate systems, aggregating employer demand, and support to understand and access funding.