IMI welcomes apprenticeship starts increase
2 April 2019 
The Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) has welcomed news that apprenticeship starts have started to grow for the first time since the government introduced the Apprenticeship Levy.
According to figures from the Department for Education, 225,800 apprenticeship starts were reported between August 2018 and January 2019, within the 2018-19 academic year. During the 2017-18 academic year, 206,100 apprentices started. This was just months after the apprenticeship levy was brought in and the number of starts dropped dramatically.
Steve Nash, CEO of the IMI said: “The latest figures on apprenticeship starts are welcome news, albeit the numbers are still significantly lower than those achieved before the Apprenticeship Levy was introduced.
Prior to the introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy in 2016-17, 269,600 started. Meanwhile, in 2015-16 there were 264,600.
Steve continued: “At the IMI we firmly believe that businesses need as much support as possible in order to understand how to they can best use the training funds to which they’re entitled. And we have been offering free expert advice to businesses in the automotive sector to help them understand how they can invest their Levy or co-investment, using this to enhance the skillset within their business.
“There is no question that apprentices deliver real value for businesses as a two year study undertaken by the IMI proved. The results found that apprentices typically generate an ROI between 150% and 300%, and usually generate profit within 12-24 months. Home grown apprentice-trained technicians invariably outperform market-recruited technicians, and this can reduce long-term recruitment and training costs.
“Employers must build apprentices’ knowledge, skills and behaviours based on targets they want them to achieve, and this will help them to see higher completion rates and a higher number of apprentices retained in their business.”
Anyone who would like to access the expert advice on the Apprenticeship Levy should call 01992 511 521 or email enquiries@theimi.org.uk