The new funding regime kicks in with the introduction of the Learning and Skills Council in England, which will take over from the Training and Enterprise Councils and the Further Education Funding Council. Until now, a trainee aged 19 or over taking a modern apprenticeship would cover both NVQ 2 and NVQ 3 over two to three years and receive funding of around 5,000 to 6,000.
But in the new system the apprenticeship becomes an 'advanced modern apprenticeship', with the funding available halved to just 2,730 and covering only 18 months. Students will go straight into NVQ 3 without covering NVQ 2 first. Alternatively, they could take founda-tion modern apprenticeships, formerly national traineeships, which attract similar levels of funding and aim for NVQ 2.
Kate Stock, training manager at SMART Training, said, 'The temptation will be to rush students through NVQ 3 in 18 months. We are going to have to look at modifying what we are doing. The funding will not support students in progressing from NVQ 2 to NVQ 3 - you have to go for one or the other. Yet some students just need to build up their confidence by doing NVQ 2 and are perfectly capable of achieving NVQ 3.
'We have a completely open access policy and we get people with all kinds of backgrounds and issues. They are going to take two or three years to get through an NVQ 3. We do a lot of training in inner-city London, and students may be caring for parents and siblings, have serious school learning issues, or be the only earner in the family. Yet they are capable of level 3. Why should we have to turn them down? It's discriminatory. Furthermore, under the new rules we are not eligible for additional social needs and additional learning needs funding for our advanced modern apprentices. It doesn't fit in with the Government's own aims of wanting more qualified childcare workers. Yet supposedly the rates have been set. It's a nightmare.'
Not all industries will fare as badly under the new regime - the funding available for an engineer is 10,000. Mrs Stock said, 'The "boys' industries" have done very nicely, and all the "girls' industries" have gone down. Whoever made up the rules doesn't understand childcare. We hope to join forces with other childcare providers and lobby for changes.'
