09/03/2018

Number of insurers offering apprenticeships increases by 47%

To celebrate National Apprenticeship Week in the UK – the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has today revealed that the number of its members offering apprenticeship schemes has increased by 47% since the introduction of the Government's apprenticeship levy. More than half of insurers were already doing so before the levy's implementation, but the figure is now above three-quarters (82%).

This is according to the ABI's inaugural Diversity and Inclusion data collection, sourced from November 2017 to January 2018. The same figures revealed that an estimated £55m is spent by the industry on training and development per year, including apprenticeships, management training and mentoring programmes targeted at the underrepresented within firms.

Commenting on the statistics, the ABI's director general Huw Evans, said, 'The insurance industry has a strong track record of developing and nurturing talent, as demonstrated by the number of industry leaders that rose through the ranks to get to where they are today. This data demonstrates that firms are now investing huge amounts in providing alternative routes into the industry, and to see such an increase in the number of our members offering apprenticeships is very promising.'