Labour's flagship apprenticeship scheme stumbles with only 160 starts in eight months

Labour's flagship apprenticeship scheme has enrolled only 160 young people in its first eight months of operation, according to figures released this week—a shortfall so severe that government officials are now being warned the entire "skills revolution" risks collapse before parliament ends.

The foundation apprenticeship program, announced last May as a centerpiece of Labour's plan to address youth unemployment, was supposed to reach 30,000 starts by the end of the parliamentary term. Instead, between August 2025 and April this year, the scheme managed to place just 160 young people into paid jobs with attached training lasting a minimum of eight months. The Fabian Society, which conducted the analysis, found the government is tracking nowhere near its target—a gap so wide it raises fundamental questions about whether the entire approach to youth employment is working.

The context makes the shortfall more alarming. Nearly one million people aged 16 to 24 in the UK are currently not in employment, education, or training. One in eight young people now falls into this category, and the rate is growing faster in Britain than in other developed economies. Experts have begun warning of a "lost generation" as young people bear the brunt of rising unemployment, compounded by increasing mental health challenges and a slowing jobs market. This is the crisis Labour set out to solve.

Yet the broader apprenticeship landscape reveals a more complicated picture. Official figures show that 308,000 people enrolled in apprenticeships of any kind across England in the academic year so far—a 9 percent increase from the previous year. The problem is distribution: more than half of all apprenticeships go to people over 25, while under-19s account for only a fifth of all starts. When researchers looked back a decade, they found that apprenticeship starts among under-25s have fallen by roughly 40 percent—the steepest decline among advanced economies.

The Fabian Society's investigation uncovered a critical barrier: employers and young people alike are confused by the system. When researchers polled more than 2,000 employers, they found that only 24 percent had good knowledge of T-level technical qualifications, and just 16 percent understood V-levels—the government's new qualifications designed to blend academic study with practical learning. By contrast, 83 percent of employers knew A-levels well, and 85 percent understood GCSEs. The academic route from secondary school through university is clear and widely recognized. The apprenticeship route, by comparison, is a maze.

The thinktank has proposed specific remedies. It recommends the government create a £311 million annual regional apprenticeship fund by the end of the decade, funded by devolving 5 percent of revenue from an expanded growth and skills levy. It also urges a redesign of foundation apprenticeships to allow employers to use levy funds to cover half the wage cost of hiring a young person—a saving of £4,700 per apprentice. The Fabian Society estimates this change alone could support 26,000 new apprenticeship starts annually.

Joe Dromey, the general secretary of the Fabian Society, acknowledged the government's stated commitment but warned that ambition alone is insufficient. "Setting the ambition is not enough if the route into an apprenticeship does not work," he said, calling for ministers to ensure that reformed technical pathways from age 14 onward actually lead somewhere.

The Department for Work and Pensions responded by emphasizing its determination to increase apprenticeship starts among young people. The department noted it is creating 50,000 additional apprenticeships for young people and introducing a £2,000 incentive for small and medium-sized enterprises that hire 16- to 24-year-old apprentices. It also pointed to a £2.5 billion investment in youth employment expected to create nearly one million jobs and training opportunities. The department said further reform will follow recommendations from a review being conducted by Alan Milburn, the former Labour cabinet minister, which is expected before the autumn budget.

Milburn's review is being closely watched. Experts have warned that without significant intervention, Britain risks leaving an entire cohort of young people behind—unemployed, untrained, and increasingly disconnected from the labor market at a time when the economy needs skilled workers. The foundation apprenticeship scheme was meant to be part of the solution. Instead, its stumbling start has become a test of whether the government can actually deliver on its promise to remake youth employment.