Young apprentices should have part of their wages paid by taxpayers, according to Reform UK plans, external aimed at delivering a “skills revolution”.
The party’s education spokeswoman Suella Braverman said a Reform government would introduce an “apprenticeship wage credit” offering small and medium-sized businesses a 30% rebate on the wages of apprentices they take on aged 16 to 18.
She also advised students receiving their GCSE exam results on Thursday “not to get ripped off by the great university scam” and to learn a trade instead.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he wants teenagers to have technical routes into careers that could rival the path of a traditional university degree.
The government has been introducing changes and examining ways to encourage more young people into work, including giving some parents on benefits up to £4,500 a year to encourage their children to start apprenticeships.
Former minister Alan Milburn has been tasked with investigating why so many young people are not in employment, education or training – known by the acronym Neets.
Reform said its announcement was the first in a series of proposals aimed at reaching 600,000 apprenticeship starts per year by the end of the next Parliament, likely to be 2034.
The party says it would pay for its plans by banning all foreign students from accessing taxpayer-funded loans and stopping what the party calls “Mickey Mouse degrees”.
Reform said its policy, which also includes a £2,000 retention bonus for apprentices, could cost between £1.48bn and almost £2bn over five years.
Braverman said there are “excessive number of graduates with qualifications that don’t match the skills needed for our country,” arguing that learning a trade would be a better use of their time.
Apprentices are generally paid a lower wage but get on-the-job training and practical work experience.
Speaking at a press conference, Braverman said: “We’re firing the starting gun on unleashing a technical and vocational renaissance of homegrown skills.
“Reform will not do this because it fills us with some jingoistic pride but because we will do what it takes to save Britain from the perpetual doom loop of decline, debt and despair that we’re currently in.”
The MP said the apprenticeship wage credit would result in businesses saving an average of £4,000-a-year per apprentice.
The £2,000 tax-free retention bonus would be paid to workers who “show loyalty” by staying with the business that trained them for at least two years after they complete their apprenticeship, said Braverman.
Asked if the policy would mean some universities would have to close, Braverman said she did not envisage that but instead suggested universities need to “repurpose” themselves into construction colleges and manufacturing colleges.
When pressed to give examples of “Mickey Mouse degrees”, Braverman pointed to “gender studies” and “golf course studies”.
She said: “There’s not a necessity, there’s not a value in many of these degrees.”
The British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA) has previously criticised Braverman for similar remarks, which they branded “negligent and potentially damaging”.
BIGGA chief executive Jim Croxton said: “Golf course management is a growing industry with currently more vacancies than qualified applicants.
“Anyone successfully studying for a degree in this field is effectively guaranteed employment in a vibrant industry.”
A Labour Party spokesperson said all young people “deserve a clear route to a good career” whether through “a properly funded apprenticeship, high-quality technical education or university”.
The spokesperson added: “That’s exactly what this Labour government is already delivering, with 500,000 new jobs, apprenticeships and training opportunities to help young people earn or learn, including a guaranteed job for 18–24-year-olds who have been out of work for 18 months.”
On Wednesday, Conservative shadow education secretary Laura Trott said there is demand for apprenticeships but claimed the Labour government “aren’t doing enough to boost supply”.
She said: “Our New Deal for Young People would axe the dead end degrees that don’t lead to jobs and instead invest in apprenticeships giving school leavers more choice.”