School for Startups founder to review apprenticeship schemes

Entrepreneur, former Dragon's Den Investor, and founder of School for Startups, Doug Richard, is to lead an independent review into the future of apprenticeships in England.

The Richard Review of Apprenticeships, commissioned by BIS and the Department for Education, will look at how to build upon the record success of apprenticeships in recent years. Richard will focus on a number of key questions: 

• What should the core components of an apprenticeship be - to meet the needs of employers (large and small), individuals, and the wider economy?

• Who should apprenticeships be for – which types of learners and employers can benefit most from apprenticeships?

• Are there elements of apprenticeships which should be simplified or stripped back?

• Are the qualifications which are undertaken as part of an apprenticeship sufficiently rigorous, and recognised and valued by employers?

• How should delivery arrangements adequately ensure all that apprenticeships provide significant new learning and acquisition of new skills, rather than the accreditation of existing ones?

• Are there opportunities to improve the impact and value for money of public investment in apprenticeships?

His report is due to be published in Autumn 2012.

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