Estimating the impact of traineeships: final report

Traineeships are an education and training programme that provide young people aged 16-24 in the UK with an intensive period of work experience and work preparation training, as well as offering them support in improving their English and maths to give them the best opportunity of entering an apprenticeship or employment. The first evaluation report was published in March 2015 [available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 119.925] and the second in July 2017 [available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 129.180].

This report estimates the impact of participating in a traineeship. It forms part of a wider evaluation of the traineeships programme. The evaluation includes the following strands: surveys of trainees, employers and providers; qualitative provider case studies to build up an in-depth picture of implementation; and an analysis of national administrative data to estimate the impact of traineeships. This report is based on the analysis of national administrative data and estimates the effect of participating in a traineeship on the three intended outcomes of progress into an apprenticeship, further learning or employment. The impact is estimated by comparing the outcomes observed for those participating in traineeships against an estimate of their expected outcomes if they had not participated in the programme. Traineeships were introduced in August 2013 and the analysis in this report focuses on the cohort of young people who started a traineeship in the 2013/14 academic year. The results presented in this report are therefore specific to participants in 2013/14. A number of changes to traineeships have been made since the policy was introduced, which may have had an impact on the overall effectiveness of the programme.

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