Government and employers will jointly fund vocational training

The UK government will invest in a £52 million scheme to support education and training in science-based industries over the next two years, the universities and science minister David Willetts has announced.

The money will support 1360 apprenticeships and 240 traineeships for young people, as well as skills-based training for hundreds of students at undergraduate and postgraduate level. The government will contribute £32.6 million, with an additional £20 million coming from participating employers.

The investment is the result of a successful bid to the government’s £340 million Employer Ownership of Skills pilot fund by the Science Industrial Partnership (SIP) – a group of science-based companies led by GlaxoSmithKline.

Announcing the fund at a SIP board meeting, Willetts said: ‘The science based industries are critical to our future prosperity – and higher skills are the key driver of their competitiveness. Our investment will help the industry to take the lead investing in the skills they need.’