Degree Apprenticeships

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:11 pm on 25 October 2022.

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Photo of Laura Anne Jones Laura Anne Jones Conservative 2:11, 25 October 2022

Thank you, First Minister. It's interesting, what you said, and I just want to note that the Welsh Conservatives fully support degree apprenticeships, and, in fact, we go further than the current policy. But, First Minister, a few weeks ago, I stood here and raised some concerning statistics highlighting that white working-class males are the least likely to attend university across the UK, but the picture is worse in Wales. You implied the problem wasn't as bad as I said, trying to excuse the figures. You said, and I quote:

'Our degree apprenticeship programme will not be counted in the figures that the Member has suggested this afternoon', as if that would somehow make the situation look better. For the academic year 2019-20, there were 380 new and continuing apprentices in the degree apprenticeship programme. In the very same cohort, 83,800 Welsh students went to university—453 per cent more than the amount taking degree apprenticeships; 380 is just 0.45 per cent of 83,800. First Minister, it's quite clear from the statistics that degree apprenticeships, even if included in the figures, and your new figures that you outlined just now, would make very little difference to those overall numbers that I outlined. So, First Minister, the problem still remains: we are seeing low numbers of university admissions for white working-class males. How exactly are you trying to rectify the situation, and, again, what practical solutions are you going to put in place to ensure that that trend doesn't continue?