Written question asked by Lord Mann (Labour) on Friday, 17 June 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 21 June 2005. It was answered by Phil Hope (Labour) on Wednesday, 22 June 2005 on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills.

Apprenticeships

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what progress was made towards the public service agreement target for apprenticeship starts in 2004/05; and what assessment she has made of whether the target will be met.

Answer: The Department has a PSA target for at least 28 per cent. of young people to start an Apprenticeship for the first time by age 22 by 2004. Measurement of the target will be based on starts in the 2004/05 academic year. At the end of 2003/04, the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) met its milestone of 24.5 per cent. However, since then, starts have fallen behind profile. The LSC have therefore put in place a range of measures to address this shortfall although it is too early to assess their impact. The target outturn will be reported by December 2005.

Secondary information