GuildHE has joined over 600 leading employers, training providers and higher education representative bodies urging the UK Government to consider the impact of plans to defund Level 7 apprenticeships on sustained economic growth.
Co-ordinated by University Alliance, we are a signatory to the letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves MP calling on the Government to continue to fund Level 7 apprenticeships in the Growth and Skills Levy if it wants to achieve its ambitions for the skills needed for occupations in growth-driving sectors outlined in ‘Invest 2035’ and to educate and train clinical staff and managers in the NHS and train and retain senior leaders in schools.
Removing Level 7 apprenticeships from levy funding will have a negative impact on the vital skills required for growth-driving sectors, high-potential SMEs and public services. GuildHE represents members principally focused on vocational and technical higher education and includes major providers of programmes of study such as Advanced Clinical Practitioner and Sustainable Business Specialist (which specifically supports the Government’s net-zero strategy and was designated as a ‘gold-standard apprenticeship in the King’s Speech in 2023), to name just two.
Whilst recognising that public spending is under pressure, there is a risk that short-term thinking now could damage the UK’s capacity for sustainable growth and the ambitions of Invest 2035, the Government’s Industrial Strategy.
Dr Brooke Storer-Church, Chief Executive Officer, GuildHE
Signatories backing the letter include representatives from over 60 NHS Trusts, 29 local authorities and sector representative groups such as the CBI, GAMBICA, RIBA and The Royal Town Planning Institute.