Apprentices fail to progress to higher education

ALTHOUGH more than 100,000 young people have signed up for modern apprenticeships in the two years since their introduction, few trainees are using their qualifications to progress to higher education, according to a Further Education Development Agency report. Colleges are meeting the needs of industry with the National Vocational Qualification-based part-time courses, but are failing to encourage the trainees to progress to higher education, it said.