Recommendation 7

We asked DfE about the causes of the decline, both in overall participation and among participants in disadvantaged areas. It replied that one of the main reasons for the overall fall in learner numbers was the reduction in the amount of funding it had put into the system over the period. It asserted that, in that context, a lot of effort had been put into trying to retain the highest value training, which had given it a good platform as it started to try and grow participation again. DfE also told us that the decline in participation had largely been driven by a decline in classroom-based training, especially from 2010 to 2017 when apprenticeships were growing.8