We were pleased to submit views to the Scottish Government’s consultation on how it should use its share of the UK Apprencticeship Levy as transferred to Scotland from the UK Government.

As employers, Scotland’s universities support the use of apprenticeships. We think the volume of apprenticeships available should be demand-led and we are keen to see the development and implementation of a graduate-level apprenticeship. We see a new apprenticeship of this kind offering opportunities for work-based learning and higher education up to and including postgraduate level. We believe it is important that these opportunities are available to learners of all ages rather than capped to those under 25 years of age as currently suggested. We support the suggestion of a ‘flexible skills fund’ for wider workforce development, using the resource from the apprenticeship levy.

Universities will be major contributors to the funds generated by apprenticeship levy, in their role as employers, to the tune of £9 million a year. Therefore, there is a strong case for ensuring that funds from the levy are invested fairly in ways that will also deliver a return to higher education institutions both as employers and as providers of learning and skills.

You can download our full submission here. 

You can find the Scottish Government’s call for evidence here.