Industry leaders have said it’s time for a brass tacks discussion about how apprenticeships are funded and delivered in Scotland as the country faces growing strain on its core infrastructure.

The release last year of the findings from the review of the post-school skills and training landscape led by James Withers prompted the launch in June of a consultation by the Scottish Government on what many believe will be a dramatic shake-up of the elaborate network of agencies and organisations that deliver apprenticeship training.

That review, which closes on September 20, is focused on simplifying the flow of government funding for universities, colleges, apprenticeships and student support. While this could prove quite significant, those familiar with the apprenticeship system say there are other far-reaching issues that must also be addressed.

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Stuart McKenna has been involved in the Modern Apprenticeship training programme since it was first introduced nearly 30 years ago and is currently chief executive of the Scottish Training Federation (STF), a lobbying organisation representing the interests of training providers. Among other things the group is pushing for a review of the government’s financial contribution towards apprenticeship training, though this is outside the scope of the current consultation.

“Roughly in each sector, how much does it cost to deliver an apprenticeship and what do we expect for that? Because just now it is vague,” Mr McKenna said.

“We’ve just got a contribution rate attached to a framework with no great calculation behind it as far as I can make out. I think we need to be honest about who does what. So for example, if you do an apprenticeship through an independent provider, your achievement rate is going to be higher than if you do it though a college – there’s 10 points of a difference.”

Just under 20% of the classroom-based learning that forms part of an apprenticeship is provided by colleges, but the ability to ramp this up is constrained by funding pressures and limited capacity within the further education sector.

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“Part of the discussion we need to have at policy level is whether the existing model is the best model,” said Ian Hughes, strategic director in Scotland for the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB).

“Germany had this model previously, the kind of vocational college model, and what they did was create centres of excellence in Germany, so instead of having 200 colleges all doing the same thing, they created construction centres. There is potentially something there to look at in terms of efficiency and effectiveness.”

Paul Sheerin of Scottish Engineering has long been a proponent of apprenticeships but is concerned that falling birthrates will undermine the current structure which focuses on young adults, with the financial support available falling away as apprentices get older.

“For us, we see the answer to that as we have to stop thinking about apprenticeships as just for people who leave school,” he said.