This article from FE Week looks at the possible impact of wages on take up and drop out rates for apprenticeships. It includes their own research looking at over 10,000 live vacancies which showed that half of all intermediate level apprenticeship opportunities were advertised at the legal minimum of just £4.81 an hour. This proportion only slightly reduced – to 46 per cent – when apprenticeships at all levels were factored in. 91 per cent of vacancies were advertised below the national minimum wage for 21-year-olds (£9.18 an hour) and 93 per cent advertised below what the government describes as the ‘national living wage’, set currently at £9.50 an hour. See the article for comment from the Low Pay Commission who set the apprenticeship rates and the views of training providers.
