The Department for Education has been urged to ensure that its drive to increase the number of apprenticeships in the UK does not prioritise quantity over quality.
Annual public funding of apprenticeships has increased by 28% in cash terms since 2010, and the government has vowed to help kickstart three million new apprenticeships between 2015 and 2020.
To pay for those apprenticeships, the government is looking to shift the burden of funding onto employers, with a new apprenticeships levy kicking in next April and set to apply to all employers with annual pay costs of over £3m.
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But a new report by the National Audit Office (NAO) spending watchdog calls on the DfE to ensure that any new apprenticeships created are contributing to the government's wider aims of boosting Britain's productivity, which lags behind other advanced economies.
"In order to derive the maximum benefit for the country as a whole, there should be a clear rationale for how apprenticeships fit into the wider plan for productivity and growth, including improving capital investment," the NAO said.
"This strategy should explain: the collective impact that the apprenticeships programme should achieve; the factors upon which such an impact is dependent; and how DfE plans to balance the drive for increased numbers with the need to support employers to deliver the apprenticeships that offer most value to the economy.
"Without this strategic underpinning, there is a clear risk that the drive to deliver greater numbers is delivered at the expense of delivering maximum value."
The Department for Education took on overall responsibility for apprenticeships policy over the summer as part of Theresa May's wide-ranging reorganisation of Whitehall. It had previously shared responsibility for the policy with the business department through a dedicated Apprenticeships Directorate reporting to both departments.
Alongside the funding shift, a new independent Institute for Apprenticeships is being set up to regulate the quality of apprenticeships and ensure they are closely aligned with the requirements of employers.
"The Department for Education needs to chart and follow a course from having a lot of apprenticeships to having the right apprenticeships" – Amyas Morse, National Audit Office
But the NAO warns that while employers "report high levels of satisfaction" with the training offered so far, surveys of apprentices themselves paint a mixed picture on quality.
"In the most recent survey, 86% of employers said that they were satisfied with the training given, and around 75% stated that apprenticeships improved productivity," the watchdog notes.
"However, while almost 90% of apprentices were satisfied with their training, at the same time one in three Level 2 and Level 3 apprentices claimed to be unaware that the training they undertook constituted an apprenticeship. And one in five reported that they had not received any formal training at all, either at an external provider or in the workplace."
The NAO acknowledges that the DfE has taken on a " complex challenge" in both expanding and reforming the apprenticeships programme "to a tight time frame", and says it has made progress on a number of fronts.
However, the watchdog says the department needs to plug some "important gaps" in its approach, including making sure it has adequate contingency plans.
"At the most strategic level, DfE has not set out the collective impact that the programme is intended to achieve, how the increase in apprenticeship numbers can deliver the maximum gain in economic productivity, and how it will influence the mix of apprenticeships in order to deliver the most value," the NAO says.
"It has further to go in ensuring that all apprenticeships meet basic quality requirements, and that the quality of training is consistently high. Alongside this, DfE needs to strengthen its approach to managing some of the risks associated with a programme of this size and complexity, putting itself in a position to respond quickly and decisively should risks begin to emerge.
"DfE needs to take effective action in each of these areas if it is to put the reformed apprenticeships programme on a sound footing and thereby demonstrate that it is achieving value for money."
The NAO recommends that the department sets out short-term performance indicators to measure the success of the programme, and says it needs to provide clarity on the respective roles of government bodies and the new Institute for Apprenticeships in keeping an eye on quality.
"The employer-led Institute should begin operating in 2017," the NAO says. "But there is an overly optimistic view of its potential to influence the way that employers and training providers deliver apprenticeships."
Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, said: "The Department for Education needs to chart and follow a course from having a lot of apprenticeships to having the right apprenticeships in order to help improve the UK's productivity and achieve value for money, in return for the costs of the programme."
Responding to the NAO's report, skills minister Robert Halfon said the apprenticeship programme was delivering "real benefits to the economy".
He added: "We are giving employers more power than ever before to design apprenticeships that are rigorous, robust and world class.
"The new Institute for Apprenticeships will ensure that apprenticeships are even more closely tailored to the needs of employers."