Apprenticeships are more beneficial to employers and employees than any other vocational training programme, according to employment experts from the University of Warwick.

The results of the Richard Review of Apprenticeships, commissioned by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, have been published today (Tuesday 27 November). The review has been looking at the future of apprenticeships.

The Richard Review cites some of the studies recently conducted by researchers at the Institute for Employment Research at the University of Warwick. Experts Terence Hogarth and Lynn Gambin, have been carrying out research in this area for 15 years.

They said: “Apprenticeships would appear to confer benefits on employers and apprentices / trainees more so than other vocational training programmes. Our research, conducted over the past 15 years, reveals that employers who recurrently invest in Apprenticeships value them highly with respect to what they deliver to the workplace.

"Our research shows that even where employers encounter relatively high costs of delivering Apprenticeships they can recoup the costs quite quickly after apprentices complete (so long as the apprentices stay in the employment of the company which trained them). But perhaps most importantly employers see a range of qualitative benefits being conferred upon the workplace from engaging in Apprenticeships, such as being able to offset future skill shortages or having a cadre of trained staff from which they can appoint supervisors and managers. These benefits are recognised in the Richard Review, as are the benefits to individuals and to society as a whole.

"The issue which has faced policy for very many years - dating back to the 1970s - is how to increase participation amongst employers so that more people, including young people, can obtain the benefits of completing an Apprenticeship.”

To speak to Lynn Gambin, please call Kelly Parkes-Harrison, Press and Communications Manager, University of Warwick, 02476 150868, 07824 540863, k.e.parkes@warwick.ac.uk