Lib Dems to Create 100,000 Apprentices

The Liberal Democrats have delivered a huge boost to apprenticeships, with at least 100,000 new apprentices being created over the next two years.

As the party of opportunity for young people, the Lib Dems have fought in Government to give more young people the chance to get on in life.

Thanks to this, the newly announced budget includes two schemes to support apprentices:

• £85m in both 2014-15 and 2015-16 to extend the Apprenticeship Grants for Employers scheme, giving businesses incentive payments to take on apprentices
• £20m to support apprenticeships up to postgraduate level (i.e. degree and masters level apprenticeships)

There is high demand from young people to do an apprenticeship, but not enough employers are coming forward and offering them. On average 12 people apply for every apprenticeship place, but in some sectors the level of demand is twice as high.

The Apprenticeship Grants for Employers scheme, which has already created 40,000 new apprentices, is designed to encourage more employers to offer apprenticeship places, to help meet demand from young people.

The new funding announced today will provide over 100,000 additional incentive payments under the scheme - providing a major boost to the job prospects of young people.

Introducing degree and masters level apprenticeships will give more young people the opportunity to develop their skills to a higher level, where there are currently fewer available qualifications.