Andy Burnham plans to give £4,500 to some households who receive Universal Credit. Ministers believe the bursary will help remove the “welfare trap” so that more teenagers in universal credit households can apply for apprenticeships, without fearing that their family will lose out on benefits.
It comes after a report by a Whitehall advisory committee found families can lose income when a young person leaves full‑time education to start an apprenticeship, ranging anywhere from £17 to £340 per week. The new bursary, worth up to £4,500 a year per household, aims to address this gap.
He added: “By providing bursaries to those who need them most and fully funding apprenticeship training, we are making sure cost is not the reason someone misses out.”
The bursary will be funded through the growth and skills levy, paid for by employers with an annual pay bill of more than £3million.
A Government source told the Daily Mail it would only be available to a “small” group of people, numbering in the “low thousands”. It will reportedly apply to 16 and 17-year-olds who are registered as disabled and who live in a single-parent household.
It forms part of Burnham’s wider plan for education reform, which focuses on technical skills. New pathways are set to be rolled out in September 2028, with pupils able to combine technical training with core academic subjects, such as English and maths, from year 10.
Mr Burnham said that “from today, Britain will value the hard hat every bit as much as the graduation cap”.
He said: “Fixing the youth unemployment crisis in Britain will require a shake-up in how we do things – and that’s what this government will do. I want to ensure that our education system leaves no dead ends for our young people.”
The PM added: “We’ve had a system built for too long around the university route and it sends a message to some young people that they’re some kind of second-class citizens and it’s just not right.
“They need an education system that works for them, that offers a path to all young people that’s balanced between academic and technical.”
Ofsted will also change their inspection criteria, with recognition for schools that provide high-quality technical education for the workplace.
Ministers announced that small and medium-sized enterprises would also get access to financial support worth up to £8,000 for hiring young apprentices.
