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The Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP), managed by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) in the UK, aims to shed light on learning and teaching throughout life, and to produce findings which will help improve educational outcomes for people of all ages. This commentary is a contribution to the public debate on apprenticeships and on the UK government's plans for the continued improvement of apprenticeship provision. It calls for apprenticeships as a model of learning to be placed at the heart of debates about vocational education and training for young people and adults. This requires a step change if policy decisions are to focus on the quality of the learning experience rather than viewing apprenticeships as yet another 'scheme' intended to meet government targets for increased numbers in post-compulsory education or training, or for the number of qualifications issued. In recent years, apprenticeships' core identity as a model of learning has been replaced by that of a policy instrument. In that sense, apprenticeships are currently government-owned and directed. This change has to be reversed.