Sadly so. The latest survey showed one in five adults (9m across England) had low literacy or numeracy. Sometimes this is people who've got the quals but their skills are rusty; often it's linked to the one in three adults who are qualified to GCSE or below level. www.gov.uk/government/p...

You're right that needs vary from trade to trade. The learning is meant to be related to the job context, but that didn't always happen as well as it should. So people feel they're learning things not relevant. For me, answer is to fix that not give up altogether which is what they've done!

Hi Brian. The chart shows number of adults taking (blue line) and passing (red) English & maths in England each year in any way, including apprenticeships. Fall this year is because Govt said you don't have to pass functional English & maths in your apprenticeship if you don't have it.

3. 16k fewer apprentices were enrolled in English functional skills after the rule change, 17k fewer in maths. The policy & course content needed refining (e.g. better contextualising skills to jobs). But getting rid of it all together is in my view a backward, short-termist step.

2. It made me sad to hear Govt ministers describe basic English & maths in apprenticeships (standard in other countries) as 'unnecessary red tape'. Real world result is fewer people improving these skills, holding back them, their employers & our economy. Grading for govt: must do better.

6. Bigger picture is whether a further rise in NMW & taxes on employers + weak growth mean Govt's employment & young people plans will come a cropper? OBR forecasts employment rate will be flat, so no progress toward the 80% ambition. Policy can do more. But bigger picture & coherence are key issues

5. 5-10k work placements for 6m at NMW would be £60-120m pa. Govt says this will save £50m per year in benefits. It's worthwhile for YPs long-term prospects. But eligibility is too narrowly drawn. Our research shows only 1 in 4 NEETs is getting active help from JCP. The other 3 in 4 will miss out.

4. Speaking of NEETs, Youth Guarantee gets cumulative £820m, about half of which seems to be new money. That's good given there's almost 1m NEETs. But how will it be spent & is it enough? So far we have some trailblazers & a small (5-10kpa?) paid work placement (like Kickstart) for LT NEETs.

3. Is Govt worried the apprenticeship budget might overspend in future years & reducing demand? Or building room for flex outside apprenticeships? Either way these changes are relatively small & not gamechangers. Apprenticeships for young people are far too low, need to change to reduce NEETs

2. Govt is removing SME requirement to pay 5% toward apprenticeship training. I'd guess that's £30m for about 10k apprentices. But it's halving the time before large firms levy pots expire & removing the 10% top up (which would've risen to £500m pa as levy grows). So levy payers will spend less.

Ultimately the minimum wage is a brilliant tool, but it can’t compensate for “we haven’t built any housing”, “we have cut cash transfers to the bone” and “all the third spaces have been cut to pay for social care”.

Some great FE examples too, as ever. Eg Weston College Jobcentre Plus ‘takeover’ day led to lots of referrals to pre employment provision & better engagement with local council & JCP.

Link to the @suttontrust.bsky.social report here

www.suttontrust.com/our-research...