Skills minister promises better apprenticeships

The government is considering creating a more rigorous standard for apprenticeships to improve quality in the skills system, John Hayes, minister for further education, skills and lifelong learning, has told PM . Hayes, who has pledged to create 50,000 new apprentice places this year, criticised the previous government for reclassifying Level 2 training (equivalent to a GCSE) as an apprenticeship, a move that swelled apprentice numbers while bringing little improvement in the number of Level 3 (equivalent to A-level) apprentices. He said that the coalition would do better “not only in terms of scale, but in terms of quality”.