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At the end of March, the Scottish Training Federation (STF) issued a press release that made a quite extraordinary claim: a freeze on new modern apprenticeships across the whole of Scotland from 1 April 2024.

The organisation then took to social media this week, tweeting a link to their press release with the statement: No new Modern Apprenticeships in Scotland for the foreseeable future. There are more than 100 different types of modern apprenticeship available in Scotland – or at least there are when the system is running – allowing people to “work, earn and learn”, and tens of thousands are started every year. You could become a lift engineer, a digital projects administrator, a childcare assistant, a project manager – the list goes on and on.

So why have these programmes been frozen in Scotland? According to the STF, Skills Development Scotland (SDS) was still waiting for budget confirmation from the Scottish Government. They added that until the budget is approved, “SDS is unable to issue contracts to the training providers, colleges and employers who deliver Modern Apprenticeships, resulting in a freeze on new places being available”.

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© Herald Scotland