Campaign background
At Edge, we’ve been calling for the Government to expand support services for SMEs to help them understand their skills needs and navigate the apprenticeship system. This ties into Edge’s broader mission to expand apprenticeship opportunities for young people. We've published two new reports, Chaos to Coordination and Agents of Change, which form the background to this campaign. They emphasise the need to create a ‘one-stop’ apprenticeship application system and to support SMEs through apprenticeship brokerage services and sector-specific tailored advice.
"It's well known that the overall number of apprenticeship starts has declined. In 2016/17, there were 494,400 apprenticeship starts. By 2022/23, this had fallen to 337,000 — a drop of 157,400. But crucially, SMEs account for a staggering 84% of these ‘missing’ apprenticeships. SMEs are often described as the powerhouse of the UK economy. They are 99% of businesses, three fifths of private-sector employment, and half of all turnover. SMEs are also everywhere, in every community in the country... if the government wants to rebalance the system towards younger learners in pursuit of its wider goals, it must also rebalance towards SMEs." Workwhile (2025), SMEs: the key to unlocking apprenticeships for growth and opportunity
Many SMEs are unaware of the incentives on offer when hiring an apprentice. We want the Government to expand support services for SMEs to help them understand their skills needs, identify apprenticeships that will work for them and find a productive way through the apprenticeship system. 68% of SMEs say that tailored advice and support would be an encouraging or decisive factor in choosing to hire a young apprentice. (Edge Foundation, Agents of Change, 2025)
Percentage of SMEs that would welcome tailored advice and support
Fabian Society (2025), Levying Up: How to Make the Growth and Skills Levy Work"The decline in apprenticeships at SMEs may appear surprising given non-levy payers only pay up to 5 per cent of the cost of training apprentices they employ. However, this demonstrates that there are many other costs and barriers to employing an apprentice...This can be more challenging for SMEs than for larger employers with established HR functions."
“SMEs were identified as important to unlocking supply, but they have less resource and capacity to engage with the system than larger employers. .. Representatives did not believe that removal of co-investment funding would make a material difference but the possibility of a funded, intermediary service to source apprentices and provide on-going support could.” St Martin’s Group (2024), Overcoming Barriers to Opportunity: Stimulating growth and unlocking supply in UK apprenticeships
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