As the new Channel 4 series, The Intern, kicked off a young woman stated "I haven't got a job, it's just no experience... no experience" which is very much heard of from young people nowadays. This highlights the very trivial dilemma in which a young person needs a job to gain experience, whilst on the other end employers refuse to hire inexperienced people.

The tone of the week's announcements responded to the conclusions of a major review of the system undertaken over the last year. This concluded that apprenticeships need to be bigger and better, worn as a badge of honour and positioned as the preferred route to achieving aspirational career goals.

The German approach places a clear value on investing and training young prospective employees and has seen the country develop a nation- and business-wide commitment to helping young adults transition between the role of student and professional.