PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Apprentices: Disability (13 November 2023)

Apprenticeships are available for all people of all backgrounds, including people with Learning Difficulties and Disabilities (LDD), allowing them to start, progress or to re-train in a variety of industries.

In recent years, the department has seen an improved representation of people who have declared LDD starting apprenticeships, and the department wants this to continue. The department has improved its Find an Apprenticeship service to allow people to identify Disability Confident Employers offering opportunities and ensuring apprenticeships are available to all.

In partnership with the Disability Rights UK, the department launched a Disabled Apprentice Network to provide insight and evidence on how to attract and retain disabled people into apprenticeships. Disability Rights UK published a report to support employers to improve the diversity of their apprenticeship programmes, whilst also highlighting the barriers people may face when undertaking an apprenticeship. In this report, the apprentices identified the opportunity to build confidence, skills and networks with people with different experiences and gain paid work experience as the key points which influenced them towards undertaking an apprenticeship.

To ensure that more people who declare LDD feel confident to undertake apprenticeships, the department has lowered the English and mathematics requirements to apprenticeships for a defined group of individuals with LDD. The department has also introduced British Sign Language (BSL) as an alternative to English Functional Skills for those who have BSL as their first language.

The department is conducting a pilot to consider the evidence used to determine eligibility for flexibilities to existing English and mathematics requirements for apprentices with an LDD. Through the pilot it is anticipated that the department will improve the process by which apprentices with an LDD who require the flexibilities are able to access these.

The department is also conducting a pilot to boost the mentoring offer of providers for apprentices with an LDD. This pilot will test whether offering expert support, advice and training to the people providing mentoring to LDD apprentices results in a positive impact on the cohort, both in terms of satisfaction, as well as broader areas such as retention and achievement for these apprentices.

Furthermore, the department makes £1,000 payments to employers and providers for taking on 16 to 18 year olds, or those aged 19 to 24 with an Education, Health and Care Plan, and also offers £150 per month to help providers make reasonable adjustments for eligible apprentices with special educational needs. Providers can claim additional funding if the cost of support exceeds this rate.