Warwick apprenticeships rank highly as PM vows to improve opportunities

The Prime Minister vows to place apprenticeships at the centre of a new approach which focuses on generating more opportunities for young people.

Meanwhile, Warwick has been listed as one of the UK’s leading universities in terms of apprenticeship success.

Keir Starmer has met with apprentices to illustrate the Government’s commitment to tearing up the “status quo” and to making such opportunities more accessible.

This combats decades of underinvestment in apprenticeships and technical education: redefining success by acknowledging various forms of hard work and talent, rather than prioritising university degrees.

Over the next three years, an investment of £1 billion will support 50,000 young people into high-quality training and apprenticeships.

The Government is offering £3000 to businesses for each hire that is between 18 and 24 years of age and has been on Universal Credit and seeking employment for six months.

They are also covering apprenticeship training costs for under-25s at smaller businesses and expanding the Jobs Guarantee from 18–21 to 18–24, bringing the total number of opportunities supported by the scheme to over 90,000 in the next three years.

Warwick was one of a few Russell Group institutions to receive the triple gold rating for student experience, student outcomes, as well for the overall assessment

Professor Lorenzo Frigerio, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Education)

This follows the Government’s youth employment drive in March, supported with a further investment of £1 billion.

This brings the overall investment into the Youth Guarantee and the Growth and Skills Levy to £2.5 billion over the next three years, benefitting almost one million young people.

Additionally, new foundation apprenticeships are being introduced, along with short training courses, in areas such as AI, digital skills, and engineering.

Warwick ranks as a top-six Russell Group university by achievement rate and a top-three for combined scale and outcomes.

The University attained a 79.2% achievement rate for Higher and Degree Apprenticeships (Levels 6–7) during the 2024/25 academic year, according to the Government’s Explore Education Statistics service.

Warwick had one of the largest apprenticeship cohorts from the Russell Group. Professor Lorenzo Frigerio, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Education) at the University, stated: 

“Our ability to deliver world-class teaching, at every level and stage of life, is recognised nationally through the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), where Warwick was one of a few Russell Group institutions to receive the triple gold rating for student experience, student outcomes, as well for the overall assessment.”

Two courses which The Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) offer have ranked first in the country, including The Digital Technology Solutions Specialist apprenticeship, with a 100% achievement rate.

Warwick prides itself on simultaneously employing “research-intensive teaching and high-quality, employer-aligned provision”, which the new governmental measures aim to encourage across the nation.