Claims extracted
18
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
11%
2 of 18 hedged
("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
64/100
Evening Standard's corrections and
hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Education
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Have apprenticeship starts risen or fallen under Labour?
asserted
starts → rise → Labour
Speaking in a debate with the education minister, Paul Waugh MP, Mr Thomas said: “When comparing the academic year 2025/26 with 2023/24, the number of people that have started apprenticeships has dropped by 9%.”
asserted
that → speak → %
Mr Thomas’s office provided Full Fact with figures for England that show this claim is based on a calculation comparing the number of apprenticeship starts in the first nine months of the 2025/26 academic year – which is the latest data currently available – with the number in the whole academic year of 2023/24.
uncertain
which → provide → 2023/24
That is obviously not a fair comparison, so it cannot tell you whether the number of starts is rising or falling.
asserted
number → tell → starts
If you compare the first nine months of 2025/26 with the equivalent nine months of 2023/24 instead, then the number of apprenticeship starts has risen by about 11%.
asserted
number → compare → %
That 8.7% figure looks like the change between 2025/26 (August to April) and the same months the previous year, so it is a fair comparison.
asserted
it → look → months
Mr Waugh appears to be wrong about the number of starts under the last government “since 2020”, however.
asserted
Waugh → appear → 2020
Between 2020/21 and 2023/24, the number actually increased.
asserted
number → increase → 2020/21
(Although the figure for 2020/21 may have been affected by the pandemic).
uncertain
figure → affect → pandemic
This effectively reversed a large rise that occurred in the early 2010s.
asserted
that → reverse → 2010s
Read More
Full Fact approached Mr Waugh’s office for comment.
asserted
Fact → read → comment
Many people on social media appear to have been fooled by an AI-generated picture that supposedly shows a group of teachers protesting against the removal of Pride flags from their classrooms.
asserted
that → appear → classrooms
The image shows a group of four women standing in a classroom holding a sign that reads: “If you make us take the Pride flags out of our classrooms we will quit teaching!”
asserted
we → show → classrooms
Hundreds of people have commented on a Facebook post sharing the image, suggesting they believe it is genuine.
asserted
it → comment → image
It contains an invisible SynthID watermark that shows it was made using Google’s AI tools.
asserted
it → contain → tools
And there are also a number of visual clues that indicate the image has been fabricated, including nonsense text and an alphabet chart on the wall which misses out the letters “a” and “i”.
asserted
which → be → letters
Before sharing content like this, first consider whether it comes from a verifiable and trustworthy source.
asserted
it → share → source
Full Fact’s guide to spotting AI content and toolkit on how to identify bad information can help you do this.
asserted
you → spot → this
The Aporia
