Flagship scheme falls short

Labour's foundation apprenticeship scheme enrolled only 160 young people in its first eight months, from August 2025 to April this year, far below the government's target of 30,000 starts by end of parliament.

What foundation apprenticeships are

Foundation apprenticeships are paid jobs for young adults with attached training for a minimum of eight months, announced by Labour in May last year as part of radical skills reforms to tackle youth unemployment.

Broader apprenticeship picture

About 308,000 people enrolled into apprenticeships of any kind in England in the academic year so far, an increase of 9 percent from the same period a year earlier. More than half are over twenty-five, while under-nineteens account for a fifth of all starts.

Decade-long decline in youth apprenticeships

Overall apprenticeship starts among under-twenty-fives remain about 40 percent below their level a decade ago, the largest decline among advanced economies, according to analysis by the Fabian Society thinktank.

Employers don't understand the routes

Polling of more than 2,000 employers found only 24 percent had good knowledge of T-level technical qualifications and 16 percent knew about V-levels, compared with 83 percent for A-levels and 85 percent for GCSEs.

Fabian Society's proposed fix

The Fabian Society recommends redesigning foundation apprenticeships to allow employers to use growth and skills levy funds to cover half the wage cost, saving four thousand seven hundred pounds per young person, potentially supporting 26,000 new apprenticeship starts a year.

Fabian Society's warning

Joe Dromey, general secretary of the Fabian Society, said setting ambition is not enough if the route into apprenticeship does not work, and that the government must ensure technical routes from age fourteen actually lead somewhere.

“The prime minister is right to make getting more young people into skilled work a priority. But setting the ambition is not enough if the route into an apprenticeship does not work.”

Government's response and next steps

The Department for Work and Pensions says it is creating 50,000 additional apprenticeships for young people and offering incentives of up to two thousand pounds for small and medium-sized enterprises. Further reform will follow the Milburn review this autumn.