Five government departments have made this year’s top 100 list for apprenticeship employers in England.
This includes a return to the list for HM Revenue and Customs after an apprenticeship drive by the department went awry.
The Home Office, Ministry of Defence and HMRC join recent list regulars the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Education in this year’s top 100.
HMRC was ranked second in the list in 2020 but did not make the top 100 in 2022 or 2023.
In an Ofsted report published in June 2022, inspectors rated the department as “requires improvement” after finding that in 2019, it began forcing thousands of its employees onto apprenticeships before realising it did not have the structure or capacity to meet their training demands.
Senior leaders reversed the decision to mandate that employees enrol on an apprenticeship in 2021 and offered existing apprentices the option to withdraw from their programme. The majority chose to withdraw.
Inspectors found that those who remained on the programmes did not receive sufficient support and guidance in the early stages of their apprenticeship. “As a result, they have not progressed quickly enough and have had their end dates extended by a significant length of time,” the Ofsted report said.
A follow-up Ofsted report in June 2023 found HMRC had made “reasonable progress” in addressing its concerns.
HMRC has returned to the list in 2024 in 69th place.
The department suggested that Covid's effect on its apprenticeship programmes was the main reason for it failing to make the rankings in 2023.
An HMRC spokesperson said: “We significantly reduced the number of apprentices following the impact of Covid-19 on our programmes.
“Since then, we have embedded our new apprenticeship strategy and as a result outcomes are improving with 86% retention rates – well above the national average.”
DWP top department for apprenticeships again
DWP is the top department in the list for the third year running, but has dropped outside of the top 10 to 11th position, having ranked ninth in 2023 and fifth in 2022.
The Home Office is a new entry, at 14th, having not made the list in 2020, 2022, 2023 or 2024 (there was no list in 2021).
The Ministry of Defence is another new entry, ranked 33rd.
The list is developed by the Department of Education, in partnership with High Fliers Research, a market research company. DfE is ranked 70th in this year’s list, an improvement on last year, where it only just made the list in 100th place.
For the fourth year running, the British Army was named the nation’s number one apprenticeships employer. The Royal Navy (3rd) and Air Force (4th) also make the top five.
Commenting on the rankings, education secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “Congratulations to all the employers across the country which have been recognised for their brilliant apprenticeship programmes.
“Apprenticeships provide opportunities for people from all walks and the employers ranked in this list are crucial to our plans in supporting people to get better jobs and grow the economy.”
She added that the launch of Skills England “will bring together businesses with trade unions, mayors and training providers to ensure we have the highly trained workforce needed to deliver the national, regional and local skills needs”.
Skills England is a new body that will inform the Department for Education’s policy priorities and provide oversight of the post-16 skills system.
It will be responsible for maintaining a list of training that is eligible for the government’s new growth and skills levy – which will replace the existing apprenticeships levy – and ensuring that the mix of government-funded training available to learners and employers matches up to the skills businesses need.