Joel Goldman Takes A Look at the LSCs Annual Report

“

The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) has published its annual report, with figures suggesting that long-term targets for apprenticeships are on course for success.

According to the report, 176,900 young people have started apprenticeships, clearing the target of 175,000 by a comfortable margin. Regular surveys conducted by the LSC also point to a reduction of 6% in the number of employers reporting skills gaps, down from 22% to just 16% during the past two years.

Local Area Performance

The LSC has set the target for 2007/08 of increasing the number of completed apprenticeship frameworks by 75%. As things stand, this target could readily be achieved with the latest available figures putting the increase at around 58%. As of autumn 2005, 68,167 apprenticeship frameworks had been completed.

Of the 9 regions covered by the LSC, the East of England has shown the biggest increase in completed apprenticeships. The numbers are up from 3,537 in the 2002/3 period to 5,506 in 2004/5, marking a colossal 55.6% increase. Of those completed apprenticeships, 38% have been successful.

At the other end of the league table, Yorkshire has shown the smallest rise at 31.5%, of which 37% have been successful. The North West and Greater London join Yorkshire in the bottom three, with 36.4% and 37.7% increments respectively.

Of the local LSC’s, Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole stands proudly at the top with a 53% success rate for its apprenticeships, while London East shows the lowest success rates, currently standing at 27%. This is however, an increase of 2% on the previous year.

The Budget

As expected, the amount of funding available to the LSC has increased year on year, from £9.2 billion in the 2004/5 period to £10.4 billion in 2005/6. However, one surprising statistic is that the percentage of this budget earmarked for apprenticeships has in fact dropped from 12% to 10.1%; equating to a monetary drop from £1.105 million to £1.047 million.

Joel Goldman

“