Are Apprenticeships The Answer To Youth Unemployment?

Today, secondary school pupils in England will be offered more technical subjects as part of education reforms led by the new Prime Minister. The courses, which will be available from year 10 onwards will be linked to local industries in the hope of giving children a clearer pathway into work. Andy Burnham says he’s keen to strengthen links between education and the workplace and these reforms come alongside a new bursary scheme which aims to remove financial barriers to accessing apprenticeships. Adam discusses the reforms, and whether they can achieve their aims, with Justine Greening, the former education secretary and founder of the Purpose Coalition which aims to improve social mobility and Shane Chowen, editor at FE Week. Plus, Adam catches up with By-Electioncast veterans Sarah Lester, editor of the Manchester Evening News and Kevin Fitzpatrick, political reporter at Radio Manchester to discuss the Manchester mayoral by-election, which goes to the polls on Thursday. You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers. You can join our Newscast online community here: https://bbc.in/newscastdiscord Get in touch with Newscast by emailing newscast@bbc.co.uk or send us a WhatsApp on +44 0330 123 9480. New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXd Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. The presenter was Adam Fleming. It was made by Jack Maclaren with Anna Harris and Rosie Merotra. The social producer was Gabriel Purcell-Davies. The technical producer was Ben Andrews. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.