{"id":147181,"date":"2025-09-19T10:20:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T10:20:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/147181\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T10:20:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T10:20:08","slug":"world-class-government-apprenticeship-app-flops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/147181\/","title":{"rendered":"‘World-class’ government apprenticeship app flops"},"content":{"rendered":"

More from this theme<\/p>\n

Recent articles<\/p>\n

Apprentices have been \u201cleft stranded\u201d by bugs in a \u00a31.2 million Department for Education app, FE Week can reveal.<\/p>\n

The government\u2019s flagship Your Apprenticeship app has been criticised by MPs and industry bodies for technical issues and a lack of functionality as a probe using freedom of information laws showed only 7 per cent of apprentices had ssigned up.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The app was created in\u00a0conjunction<\/a>\u00a0with scandal-ridden company Fujitsu, whose Horizon system played a key role in the Post Office scandal, and students from Manchester Metropolitan University.<\/p>\n

Education secretary Bridget Phillipson unveiled the app in February in an attempt to assist learners in tracking their progress, accessing key documents, and preparing for end-point assessments.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, users have encountered problems, including login failures and unresponsive interfaces. Dozens of apprentices have said the app \u201cremains blocked on the pushed notifications screen\u201d, meaning they aren\u2019t able to use its tools.<\/p>\n

The DfE admitted the app cost over \u00a350 per user, with only 23,943 \u201cactive users\u201d, in addition to annual running costs of \u00a355,000.<\/p>\n

Active users are those who have successfully signed up to the app, not necessarily those regularly using it.<\/p>\n

One apprentice said: \u201cThe app is poorly designed. It forces users to accept notifications, and even after adjusting settings, it remains stuck on the notification prompt, making it completely unusable. Many users have reported the same issue, so emailing support feels pointless.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Apple App Store<\/p>\n

Another learner told us: \u201cThis app just doesn\u2019t work right. It forces you to stay on a blank screen, but even if you change the settings it stays stuck on that screen. I deleted it, reinstalled, and still ran into the same thing. Basically, you can\u2019t use it even if you try, so we are left stranded.\u201d<\/p>\n

The DfE has been informing users that the crash on the notifications prompt has now been fixed.<\/p>\n

Manuela Perteghella, who sits on the House of Commons education select committee, told FE Week: \u201cThese reports are extremely concerning. The government needs to urgently lay out how it will fix the issues with the app and get it working for those apprentices.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emily Rock, the CEO of the Association of Apprentices, added: \u201cWe understand that apprentices are often time-poor, and anything that helps reduce stress and improve their experience is welcome. While technical issues with the Your Apprenticeship app are clearly frustrating for users, we support the principle behind it.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the government released the system it claimed to provide a \u201cworld-class experience\u201d to learners by making it a \u201cone-stop shop\u201d that would \u201crevolutionise\u201d training and support.<\/p>\n

It is understood the app is an extension of Fujitsu\u2019s\u00a0\u00a314.25m contract<\/a>, which ended in April, despite its promise not to bid for government work before the Post Office Horizon Inquiry concluded.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAs part of this, we provided skilled resources to help with the development of the Your Apprenticeship app, but we have no involvement in its ongoing delivery or functionality,\u201d a Fujitsu spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

Manchester Metropolitan University, which was involved in early-stage development, said: \u201cWhile the university is not involved in the app\u2019s deployment or ongoing management, we continue to support the government\u2019s efforts to enhance digital tools.\u201d<\/p>\n

A DfE spokesperson said: \u201cWe are pleased with the take-up of the Your Apprenticeship app so far, with over 40,000 downloads and just 40 queries regarding access or use of the app. Our Plan for Change is working, with apprenticeship<\/a> starts, achievement and participation all up compared to the same period last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, we are aware of a minor bug affecting some Android users which we are working hard to resolve. We continue to work closely with apprentices as we develop this app to ensure it meets their needs.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More from this theme Recent articles Apprentices have been \u201cleft stranded\u201d by bugs in a \u00a31.2 million Department…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":147182,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[2306,50,86,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-147181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mobile","tag-mobile","tag-news","tag-technology","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147181\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}