How old is too old?

Are apprenticeships only meant for young people? Current unemployment in young people is at a 5-year high, 15.9% of young people 18-24 are unemployed and of that number 19.4% are not in employment or full-time education. Work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden has made it clear that the focus of apprenticeship recruitment will be on younger people and not on upskilling existing staff.

This week the Government removed 16 apprenticeship standards from providers if they don’t currently offer them and limited the offer for providers already providing them with last registrations for new starts by December 2026.

The standards which included operations manager, team leader and learning and skills assessor were very popular with over 37,000 enrollments last year, but only with those over 25 years old. Less than 2% were for starts under 19 years old. The standards included many employers used to upskill existing staff moving to new roles or undertaking additional responsibilities.

The much awaited Level 2 administration assistant apprenticeship will only be available to learners aged 16-24. When this apprenticeship was offered under the frameworks, it was one of the most popular with about 30,000 starts each year.

It seems the impetus for apprenticeships will be on recruiting 18-24 year olds with the aim of reducing employment level and providing an alternative to further or higher education.

However, there is little detail yet about how the gap in funding for training those above 25 will be filled. Indeed, Skills minister Jacqui Smith said in reference to leadership and management apprenticeships for older learners, “not only not what people would traditionally think of as apprenticeships” but were areas employers should fund themselves.

Employers would argue that the Apprenticeship Levy should support their own staff and not devolve to an additional tax to support apprenticeships nationally. The current climate does not allow all employers to fund additional training for staff and will see this as an additional financial burden.

Finally, many of apprenticeship providers and especially employer providers may be heavily impacted by the removal of the 16 standards, and it may have a far-reaching impact on their viability and their staff.

No one would deny that youth employment is a huge priority, but increasing advances in technology and AI and an ever-changing economy means growing numbers of older people need to upskill or retrain in new roles, should they be denied the opportunity of accessing apprenticeships?

If you are thinking about upskilling why not see the range of assessing, teaching and quality assurance course we offer? Best for Training | Accredited Training & Course Specialists