New figures show that The Department for Education handed £96 million of apprenticeship funding back to the Treasury last year. Of the department’s £2.554 billion total apprenticeship budget in the 2022-23 financial year, £2.458 billon, or 96 per cent, was spent. This marks an increase in the underspend the department recorded in 2021-22, when just £11 million of its apprenticeship funding went unused. The rise in underspend follows an increase to the overall apprenticeship budget between those years: it rose from £2.466 billion in 2021-22 to £2.554 billion in 2022-23 to ease pressure being caused by soaring numbers of higher-level apprenticeship starts, which are the most expensive to deliver. Click here for more.
