McDonald’s will recruit and train 10,000 teenagers a year in burger-making and operating drive-throughs, becoming the country’s biggest provider of apprenticeships.

School-leavers who take the National Vocational Qualification in “multi-skilled hospitality”, the equivalent of five GCSEs, will undergo on-the-job training in all aspects of running a restaurant. They must also pass English and maths exams to gain their City & Guilds certificate.

It will lead to the incongruous sight of Ofsted inspectors, more accustomed to visiting schools, scrutinising branches of the fast-food chain.

The programme is a huge boost for the Government’s drive to create 500,000 apprenticeships by 2020. The recession has forced many companies, particularly in the construction industry, to abandon plans to train young people.

Yesterday Gordon Brown announced an extra £140 million would be made available to create 35,000 apprenticeships. The Prime Minister was speaking as he toured Rolls-Royce in Derby.

The automative industry is one that most people traditionally associate with apprentices, but McDonald’s will now become Britain’s biggest apprenticeship provider.

It is offering 6,000 places this year and 10,000 next year. A pilot scheme has already taken place in 80 restaurants.

Apprentices will learn all elements of running a branch, from working in the kitchens making burgers and checking the temperature of the meat, to dealing with awkward customers front-of-house. They will be trained in hygiene, health & safety and handling money.

McDonald’s claims the qualification will enable its staff to work with confidence in leading hotels and restaurants.

David Fairhurst, McDonald’s head of human resources, said the drive was part of a rebranding of the company, which appears to be trying to shake-off its reputation for offering oversized portions of greasy food in garish surroundings.

After updating the decor (which now resembles a coffee shop) and the menu (which offers salads and ‘deli’ sandwiches as well as burgers and fries), McDonald’s will now spend £30 million on staff training and education.

Speaking to the press at the gleaming Cannon Street branch, in central London, where customers could not move without tripping over eager and personable young staff, with mops and beaming smiles, Mr Fairhurst said the company could reinspire those who dropped out of school disillusioned with education.

Times recommends

• Screen tests are the future of exams
• No more free boarding schools for diplomats
• Popular Jewish School broke race laws