apprenticeship

The scheme builds on a "youth guarantee", announced last November, which promised every 18 to 21-year-old in England access to an apprenticeship, training, education opportunities or help to find a job.

Students were led to believe these opportunities were “in-house production opportunities” and “post-graduate apprenticeships,” but instead, they were schemes planned and paid for by the school to remain an accredited university, according to the lawsuit.

FE colleges say they are having to turn away qualified applicants and that apprenticeship course are over-subscribed, while universities are limiting the number of places they can offer Scottish students.

Helen Marks' son Ryan Beggs has been enrolling in apprenticeship courses at Belfast Metropolitan College for the past two years but has been unable to find an employer to take him on.

The government said it wants to give "real opportunities for working people", including apprenticeships in clean energy and careers in biotech and AI.