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<p>The department continues to monitor apprenticeships market performance including
levels of starts by sector subject areas such as Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies
as well as Construction, Planning and the Built Environment. In the first quarter
of this academic year we have seen particular growth in the number of starts at Level
4 and above in Engineering and Manufacturing, in comparison to the same period last
year.</p><p> </p><p>Quality is at the heart of our changes to apprenticeships and
new employer-designed high quality standards are replacing frameworks to ensure apprenticeships
meet employers’ needs and address national skills shortages.</p><p> </p><p>Employers
are taking on the standards rapidly - there were 40,900 apprenticeship starts on the
new apprenticeship standards for quarter one of the 2017/18 academic year – more than
the whole of last year combined. This represents 36% of all starts in the first quarter
of this year compared to 3.1% in the same period the previous year, and much quicker
growth than expected - showing that employers are moving to the new higher quality
offer.</p><p> </p><p>Higher quality training leads to increased productivity; of the
new standards approved, 37 are standards in construction and engineering-related occupations
and in Facilities Management. Around 300 more standards are in development, including
more than 100 in construction and engineering and three more in Facilities Management
occupations.</p>
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