Institution of Mechanical Engineers responds to Labour's apprenticeships guarantee

Peter Finegold, Head of Education at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, said in response to today’s announcement that Labour would guarantee apprenticeships for every school leaver in England who "gets the grades":

“We broadly support the principles outlined in Ed Miliband’s speech for an Apprenticeship Guarantee, but would urge all political parties to resist the temptation to offer ambitious targets at the expense of quality.

“Engineering, more than other sector, has generated wealth for the nation while providing opportunity for people from all backgrounds to fulfil their potential. Highly skilled technical experts will develop and maintain our infrastructure and develop our manufacturing industry essential for economic growth

“The key issue here must be quality and not quantity.  There must be an accreditation scheme (like EngTech) to ensure the rigour of the process and we need to embed these into the local companies – not just big multinationals - who until now haven’t had the time or resource to benefit from growing their own talent in this way.

“We would also warn that 16,000 new apprentices a year - also mentioned in Mr Miliband’s speech - is not a lot.  Engineering alone is short of 30,000 apprentices each year according to recent Engineering UK figures, so we must do even more to plug the UK’s skills gap.”