From the very beginning, a prospective employer is met with paperwork, accounts, compliance and so much more. This comes in the form of: DAS account setup & Adding Apprentices Onboarding Skillscans Employment contracts & Apprenticeship Agreements Initial Assessments Off-the-job training compliance.

The list goes on.

It's for this reason that Dyson have recently decided to cease their degree apprenticeship offering despite just being awarded Outstanding as an employer-provider.

I do have a feeling it has to do more with the restrictions the levy implies as they have been granted degree-awarding powers now so will more than likely just pay for traditional degrees.

However, more needs to be done to support employers into apprenticeships.

Firstly, finding a partner within a Training Provider should be easy. At least that’s why we invented our search engine to assist employers in creating those partnerships based on impartiality and facts.

Something the government site lacks.

The new labour government is planning a raft of changes to the apprenticeship system as it recognises the levy, for example, isn’t being used to it’s full potential. The plan is to open out this to wider skills courses, the benefits of which are yet to be seen.

My hope is that they recognise the key hurdle for small businesses getting into apprenticeships is more than likely the admin burden.

Streamlining the processes and taking a second look at the overwhelming compliance behind apprenticeships would do good to create a system designed to promote real learning experiences where the employer feels emboldened to contribute, rather than frustrated with the system.

There is a long way to go and, as we know, the government does not move quickly. However, a change is coming, so let’s watch this space.