Created by BTEG (black training and enterprise group), about the importance of equality and diversity in apprenticeships and education. Includes statistics about government targets, and BAME (black and ethnic minority) representation in apprenticeships.

1. Jeremy Crook OBE
Chief Executive
&
Chair of Department for Education
Apprenticeships Equality & Diversity Advisory
Group
Apprenticeships 4 England Conference 2017

2. Apprenticeships are key to upskilling and
diversifying our workforce
• Apprenticeships need to be open and accessible to as many
individuals as possible in the workforce
• Equality, diversity & inclusion must be integral
• We need more providers and employers to embrace diversity
and inclusion

3. Apprenticeships Starts 2015/16
• Age (16-24) 56%
• BAME 10.5% (Asian 4.2%)
• LDD 9.9%
• Gender/Female 52.8%

4. GOVERNMENT 2020 APPRENTICESHIP TARGETS
• increase in BAME representation
in apprenticeship starts
• increase in representation of
people with learning disabilities
and/or disabilities in
apprenticeship starts
• of new entrants to engineering
and technical apprenticeships in
the transport sector to be women
to achieve parity with the working
population (DfT)
20%

5. Public sector workforce target
• Public sector organisations must have 2.3% of their
workforce as apprentices

6. What is the DfE doing?
Main components are:
1. The Diversity Champions Network
2. Targeted local area strategy
3. Implementation Maynard recommendations
4. Providers

7. 1. The Diversity Champions Network
- Plans to expand to cover more employers
- Employers are making pledges to improve access to
apprenticeships for BAME individuals, women in STEM, LDD and
disadvantaged.
- Through the network DfE will be asking employers to
raise the profile of their best practice through employer
networks and social media.

8. 2. Targeted local area strategy
• Establish working groups of local partners to develop and agree a strategy
for improving BAME representation.
• We expect this to drive public and private sector employers to:
- Share best practice in advertising and recruiting apprentices
- Unconscious bias training
- Educational selection - lowering or removing requirements
- Diversity on interview panels
- Raise awareness
• Collect their own data on ethnicity and set themselves targets to
improve their workforce diversity
• Raise diversity as an issue at Board level to drive action

9. 3. Implementation Maynard taskforce
recommendations
• The changes to English and Maths entry requirements should be laid in
Parliament soon and come into effect early in the academic year.
• DfE plan to speak to stakeholders in the Autumn about the next steps on
extending this flexibility and reaching a wider group of people with learning
disabilities.
• The LD/D “pacesetters” in Kent, Newcastle, Shropshire & Wolverhampton,
Islington, West London Alliance and the NHS are now established and starting
to implement many of the key aspects of the Maynard taskforce.
• DfE evaluating whether the new apprenticeships funding system sufficiently
supports apprentices with disabilities as intended, or whether we need to do
anything different to support apprentices, employers and providers.
(DfE plan to do the field work for this from the end of the Summer, and finish in November. They are in the process of
appointing contractors now).

10. 4. Providers
• Training providers have a key role in:
- raising awareness of diversity issues,
- supporting apprentices with additional
needs to complete
- supporting employers to achieve their
recruitment aspirations
- Collection of diversity data is vital for
improving recruitment and progression in any
organisation
(YouGov focus groups with London employers 2016 on diversity showed that ethnicity was not
front of mind unlike gender and disability)

11. Is this enough?
• It’s a start that must be implemented and built on
• We need everyone to drive improvements (leadership,
commitment and appropriate resources)
• Involve those with protected characteristics in finding
practical solutions (make sure they are not invisible!)
• We have to start talking about race and learning
disabilities and disabilities in the workplace
• Flexibility is vital for many in the workforce who work
part time (part time apprenticeships should be on
offer - we cant afford to deny part time workers
opportunities to upskill and progress up the ladder)

12. Interesting learning projects
• Joseph Rowntree Foundation: Poverty and ethnicity projects
(Bradford City Council, Textile employers, Keighley College and
Asian women's group - creating opportunities for local Asian
women)
• Trust for London and City Bridge Trust: Moving on Up
(6 providers supporting 500 young black male Londoners into
employment)

13. Thank you for listening
jeremy@bteg.co.uk
www.bteg.co.uk