Youth Guarantee To Tackle Skills Gaps?
- Charlotte Gorse
- May 7
- 2 min read
Updated: May 23
The £725 million package for skills reforms for the under-25s, announced by the government in December, is now in full effect, with introductory AI short courses and SME apprenticeships funding in place.
As part of the skills package, the government is also removing the 5% co-investment rate for SMEs, meaning that training costs for eligible under-25s will be fully covered. Supported by Skills England and the Office for Investments’ new skills infrastructure development service, which will help businesses get their training up and running as quickly as possible, small businesses will see a significant improvement in training flexibility for their apprentices, with the introduction of new short courses in cutting-edge areas like artificial intelligence, engineering and digital skills specifically targetted: all of this means that taking on young talent will be more appealing to businesses, while supporting employers to develop the skills of their workforce.
Craig Beaumont, Executive Director at the Federation of Small Businesses, said: ‘Small businesses are incredibly enthusiastic about apprenticeships, and we are pleased the Government is taking steps to make the system more small business friendly. It will help unlock more local roles, meaning small firms can do what they do best – taking people on and giving them a great chance in life.’
Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated that: ‘the Government is investing £1.5 billion through the Youth Guarantee and the Growth and Skills Levy …It’s time to change the way that apprenticeships are viewed and to put them on an equal footing with university. This is a defining cause for this government and a key step towards our ambition to get two-thirds of young people in higher-level learning or apprenticeships.’ These reforms are specifically designed to tackle the steady decline in apprenticeships undertaken by young people, which are almost 40% lower than ten years ago.
The Prime Minister’s ambition is clear: to fill an increasing national skills gap, and to get more young people into training and ultimately work as quickly as possible. It is a continued call to action for UK HE institutions and training providers to react, to widen their offering to support these areas and improve under 25s' access to work through targeted skills gap training and related courses.
