Prime Minister Theresa May has backed away from her vow to create three million apprenticeships by April 2020, reports The Times. This comes after The Times had revealed, citing research from manufacturer’s association EEF, that there is little prospect of that target being reached. The pledge was first made by former Prime Minister David Cameron at the 2015 election and renewed by May in last year’s general election manifesto. The pledge was also heavily emphasised during the Spring Budget 2018 and when updates to the Apprenticeship Levy were being announced. Yesterday, the Prime Minister’s official spokeswoman declined to comment when asked about whether the government would meet its apprenticeships goal, however she did say that reforms are driving up the quality of apprenticeships and that May’s office is continuing to work on increasing them. To reach the three million figure by April 2020, the government would need about 68,000 new apprenticeships to start each month between now and then, the EEF found. Since an apprenticeship levy was introduced in April last year, the average monthly start rate has been 28,000. Even before the levy came into effect, monthly starts were on average 44,000 a month.