HC Deb 30 March 2004 vol 419 c1396W
Harry Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what targets his Department has on the numbers taking part in modern apprenticeship courses; and what assessment he has made of the overall number of apprentices. [164084]

Mr. Ivan Lewis

For the first question I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 18 March 2004,Official Report, column 654, The average number of modern apprentices in learning in January 2004 was 255,623. This is the highest level of participation since the programme began in 1994.