A review written by former TV Dragon Doug Richard sets out a number of recommendations for improving apprenticeships – and takes as its starting point the idea that “everyone likes apprenticeships… or at least the notion of them”.

Entrepreneur Richard, who featured in the first two series of the BBC’s Dragons’ Den, has over 20 years of software and technology venture experience, and was previously chair of the Conservative Party Small Business Task Force.

The first of 10 recommendations in the report (front cover pictured left) asks that apprenticeships be redefined and only targeted at those new to a job which needs “sustained and substantial training”, rather than used for the “training and accreditation of existing workers”.

It also asks for more broadly agreed industry-wide standards, and attainment of a certain level of English and Maths proficiency as a condition of completion

A summary of the ‘Richard Review of Apprenticeships' is available online.

Richard comments: “Apprenticeships need to be high quality training with serious kudos and tangible value both to the apprentice and the employer. I want to hear about an 18-year-old who looked at their options and turned down a place at Oxbridge to take up an apprenticeship if that is the right path for them. And I want to hear that their parents were thrilled.”