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Kemi Badenoch has vowed to double the number of apprenticeships and reduce the number of university entrants by 100,000 as part of a sweeping overhaul of education funding.

The Conservative leader completed an engineering apprenticeship prior to attending university, revealing she enjoyed the experience so much that she was reluctant to move on.

She raised the matter with apprentices during a visit on Monday (February 23) to the Virgin Media O2 headquarters in Paddington, west London.

Mrs Badenoch outlined her party's plans to reform education funding by scrapping certain university courses and redirecting the savings towards apprenticeships.

The Conservatives previously stated that reducing university entrants by 100,000 would save the Government £3.6 billion, with those funds used to provide the same number of additional apprenticeships for 18 to 21-year-olds, as part of a "new deal for young people", according to the Sunday Times.

Speaking to apprentices on Monday, Mrs Badenoch said: "I remember when I finished my apprenticeship, I was having so much fun I didn't want to leave."

She stressed the importance of raising the status of apprenticeships, adding that such schemes "are actually a really fantastic way to learn and get in the workplace".

Mrs Badenoch said: "If we want to double the number of apprenticeships, we need to encourage people to take them on. That's not just students but also parents. Many parents are the ones who say 'no don't do an apprenticeship', so we're working hard to change their mindset."

She stated that "encouraging businesses to take on young people" was vital and that "taking money out of the university sector and putting it into apprenticeships" was crucial to boosting the number of available schemes.

"So we're not spending additional public money, we're simply shifting the way education money is being prioritised," she said.

Following the discussion, Mrs Badenoch told the Press Association: "We know that many young people are going to university when actually they should be going on apprenticeships.

"I had an apprenticeship myself, so I know the value of it, and I'm also worried that young people are getting a lot of debt from going to university and not necessarily getting a better job than if they'd taken an apprenticeship.

"So I'm spreading the word and letting people know about our new deal for young people."

The most recent Department for Education figures show 142,780 people commenced an apprenticeship for the 2025/26 academic year as of October, representing a 7.7% rise from the 132,560 recorded the previous year.

The Conservative leader has further pledged to reduce the interest rate charged on certain student loans amid growing concern over rising costs.

In the wake of Chancellor Rachel Reeves's November budget, the earnings threshold at which repayments begin under the current system will be frozen at £29,385 for three years, resulting in many graduates facing higher repayments.

Interest on Plan 2 loans is applied at the RPI inflation rate plus up to 3%, depending on a graduate's salary. Mrs Badenoch has unveiled proposals to limit this to RPI alone, arguing that this would enable more graduates to clear their debt.

"We want to change what is going on with Plan 2, where a lot of young people are paying more and more, and they're not clearing any of their student debt; it's actually increasing," she said on Monday.

"And this is getting worse because of the changes that Rachel Reeves made in the budget, freezing the thresholds, meaning more money is going to be spent effectively on a tax to pay for benefits. That's not right.

"So we want student loan payments to be inflation only, not inflation plus 3% and that's something that's actually going to make life a lot easier for many young people who are coming out with huge debts, they can't buy a house, they're not starting families, and they feel like the world is against them."