Apprenticeship policy in England since 2010. Change and continuity

Since Ewart Keep published his important article on England’s VET policy failures in 2006 in JVET much has happened, while important aspects of Keep’s critique still hold. In his article entitled “State Control of the English Education and Training System: Playing with the Biggest Train Set in the World”, Keep argued that the state’s continual interventions to promote a market–based VET system led to a cycle of policy failure followed by further remedial action by the state. Underlying problems of employer demand for skills remained unaddressed. This article aims to examine the continuities and discontinuities in England’s VET policies since 2010, indicating where problems apparent for the whole of the postwar period still apply. The focus of the article will be on apprenticeship policy during this period, covering the introduction of Trailblazer apprenticeships, the Apprenticeship Levy and the setting up of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education. Using policy analysis and a review of data from the ‘Young Lives, Young Futures’ ESRC–funded project, the article will assess the success of policy from 2010 to 2024 and pose the question whether Keep’s critique of English VET policymaking still holds.