The UK has a truly dismal record on apprenticeships and training

Tory ministers cling to what they claim is a good programme. A think tank report paints a very different picture, writes James Moore

A new report found half quit before the end of apprenticeship schemes that offer little in the way of training or value (PA Media)

Apprenticeships matter. Or at least they ought to.

They certainly matter to the government. There are few positives for it to point to amid its self-generated chaos, the wreckage it has left of the economy, the launch of what amounts to Austerity 2.0. But apprenticeships, skills, and training? They are things ministers and Tory MPs cling to like the survivors of a maritime disaster clutching at driftwood.

However, a report by education think tank EDSK shows they really shouldn’t consider them as any kind of lifesaver. Not when nearly half (47 per cent) of all apprentices are now dropping out before completing their courses. Not when a staggering 70 per cent of those that do report concerns about the quality of the “training” they are supposed to have received.