To ask the Minister for the Economy whether her Department will follow the UK Government in removing the requirement for apprentices, over the age of 19, to achieve level 2 essential skills in English and Maths.

Skills and training are devolved matters and each administration has developed its own training and apprenticeship strategies. There are no current plans to remove this requirement for apprentices over the age of 19. Essential Skills in Communication, Application of Number and ICT are an integral part of the ApprenticeshipsNI programme, where apprentices do not hold a GCSE equivalent in the respective subject. This is to help ensure that apprentices are equipped not only with job-specific technical abilities but also with the core competencies needed to progress in their learning and in their career pathways.