EVERY 18-year-old who finds a job with an apprenticeship will be entitled to a grant of up to £15,000 towards their training, Gordon Brown has announced.

In a recent speech, he said "substantial financial support" will be available for every child that aspires to an apprenticeship or higher education.

Schools in England will need a third of pupils achieving five A*-C grades at GCSE, including maths and English. And Mr Brown wants parents to be more involved in their children's schools.

In his first speech on education since becoming prime minister, Mr Brown outlined his vision for realising aspirations and ending the culture of failing schools.

He said 18-year-olds who choose to get an advanced apprenticeship, instead of going to university, will be entitled to a credit of £3,000 for some skilled jobs and up to £15,000 for a high-cost sector like engineering.

Minimum standards in schools will be raised over the next five years, with all schools needing 30 per cent of their pupils achieving five high grade GCSEs by 2012 to 2013. Schools that fail will face being closed down.

Mr Brown has argued the level of parental engagement and interest in a child's learning is the "single biggest determinant" of their achievement at school. Parents will be urged to get more involved in the teaching of their child. Schools will be encouraged to give more feedback, through regular e-mails, meetings and more parents' sessions at key transition points for children, such as discussing the next stages in learning or new goals.

Mr Brown will also outline his aim to have the best teachers in the world in a generation, with a new focus on recruitment of the brightest and best, and continuing professional development.

He has focused on the best education systems in the world, such as in South East Asia and Scandinavia to see how the best people can be attracted to become teachers.

Britain needs to compete with educational standards that are rising across the world, he has said. He cited countries like Finland as good examples of educational excellence, where there are 10 applicants for every teacher training place.

This comes at a time when the raising of the school leaving age to 18 in England is a major talking point, having been signalled in the Queen's Speech.

The move aims to tackle the problem of young people leaving education without qualifications or workplace skills.

Schools secretary Ed Balls told GMTV the "radical proposal" was needed because too many people were leaving school at 16 without qualifications.

Under the plans pupils would not have to continue with academic lessons but would be required to receive training.