You're hired? New levy and tougher rules signal apprenticeship shakeup

Ministers say 3m earning and learning schemes will plug the UK skills gap but critics say new levy is yet another financial burden for businesses

When Mohammed Choudhury was studying for A-levels, one of his teachers mentioned apprenticeships as an alternative to university. Now the 19-year old is learning computer coding and fixing software bugs for the Gloucestershire precision manufacturing firm Renishaw. Many of his friends went to university, but Choudhury has no regrets about picking a software apprenticeship.

"Your work is being put to use rather than just in the back of a cabinet," he says of the kind of learning and earning scheme that is set to become more widespread as the government shakes up the apprenticeship system this week.

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