Apprenticeship starts

Published 10 October 2017

Last updated 1 March 2018 - see all updates

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Contents

1. Main facts and figures

• between 2002/03 and 2015/16, the percentage of ethnic minority learners (excluding White minorities) starting an apprenticeship increased from 5.3% to 10.5%

• the number of apprenticeship starts across ethnic minority groups (excluding White minorities) grew by more than 6 times over the reported period, from 8,900 to 53,480

• total apprenticeship starts increased by more than 3 times over the same period, from 167,700 to 509,400

• in 2015, 10.5% of learners starting an apprenticeship were from an ethnic minority background (excluding White minorities), which is lower than their share of the overall population

Things you need to know

The way data was collected changed in 2011, which means that data from 2002/03 to 2010/11 isn't directly comparable with the data from 2011/12 to 2015/16.

Before 2011/12, there was a separate data collection for each of the different further education funding models. Some learners at the same training provider may have been included in more than one data collection, if they were funded under more than one model during an academic year. This means they will have been counted more than once in the official statistics.

In 2011/12, a single collection for all funding models was introduced. This means that the total number of learners is now counted from a single collection and learners at each training provider will no longer be counted twice.

This methodology change also means that apprenticeship start numbers are overrepresented by an estimated 1% to 2% for reporting periods from 2002/03 to 2010/11.

What the data measures

This data measures the number of people who had a start date for an apprenticeship programme or learning aim (‘apprenticeship starts’).

Each reporting period covers an academic year, which runs from 1 August to 31 July.

A learner starting more than one apprenticeship is counted separately for each programme. For example, a learner starting an intermediate level apprenticeship, and then starting or transferring to an advanced level apprenticeship, is counted as 2 starts. This can be within 1 academic year or across multiple academic years.

The data only includes people funded by government.

To provide additional context, the percentage of people on apprenticeships by ethnic group is compared with 2015 population estimates published by the Office for National Statistics.

The ethnic categories used in this data

Data from 2011/12 onwards has been classified using the 5 standardised ethnic groups based on the 2011 Census. Data collected before 2011 has been reclassified to the 2011 Census definitions. However it is not directly comparable with data from 2011/12 onwards because of the different methodology used.

The 5 categories used are:

• Asian/Asian British
• Black/African/Caribbean/Black British
• Mixed/Multiple ethnic groups
• White
• Other ethnic group

2. Number of apprenticeship starts by ethnicity over time

• Location: England
• Time period: 2002/03 to 2015/16
• Source: Apprenticeships and traineeships data

Number of apprenticeship starts by ethnicity

Year	All	Asian	Black	Mixed	White	Other	Unknown	Ethnic minority (excl. White minorities)
	Starts	Starts	Starts	Starts	Starts	Starts	Starts	Starts
2002/03	167,700	3,510	2,560	1,770	157,270	1,060	1,520	8,900
2003/04	193,600	4,210	2,820	2,260	182,140	670	1,460	9,960
2004/05	189,000	4,660	2,920	2,460	176,450	820	1,720	10,860
2005/06	175,000	4,100	2,350	2,310	164,120	750	1,340	9,510
2006/07	184,400	4,680	2,430	2,660	172,470	750	1,440	10,520
2007/08	224,800	6,500	3,600	3,150	208,230	1,000	2,290	14,250
2008/09	239,900	9,450	5,110	3,840	217,890	1,220	2,450	19,620
2009/10	279,700	9,390	6,390	5,020	254,780	1,430	2,660	22,230
2010/11	457,200	19,270	14,610	8,290	407,050	3,440	4,550	45,610
2011/12	520,600	20,720	17,350	9,850	464,960	3,430	4,270	51,350
2012/13	510,200	19,690	16,590	10,110	455,440	3,380	5,010	49,770
2013/14	440,400	18,600	13,650	9,470	391,480	3,110	4,110	44,830
2014/15	499,900	21,510	17,250	10,930	442,340	3,500	4,380	53,190
2015/16	509,400	21,380	17,500	11,100	448,830	3,500	7,060	53,480

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Apprenticeship starts Number of apprenticeship starts by ethnicity over time Summary

This data shows that:

• between 2002/03 and 2015/16, the number of apprenticeship starts associated with Black learners grew by 7 times, from 2,560 to 17,500

• the number of apprenticeship starts associated with Asian learners and those with Mixed ethnicity grew by 6 times, from 3,510 to 21,380 and from 1,770 to 11,100 respectively

• the number of apprenticeship starts associated with White learners grew by nearly 3 times over the reported period, from 157,270 to 448,830

3. Percentage of apprenticeship starts by ethnicity over time

• Location: England
• Time period: 2002/03 to 2015/16
• Source: Apprenticeships and traineeships data

Percentage of apprenticeship starts by ethnicity over time

Year	Asian	Black	Mixed	White	Other	Unknown	Ethnic minority (excl. White minorities)
	Value	Value	Value	Value	Value	Value	Value
2002/03	2.1	1.5	1.1	93.8	0.6	0.9	5.3
2003/04	2.2	1.5	1.2	94.1	0.3	0.8	5.2
2004/05	2.5	1.5	1.3	93.4	0.4	0.9	5.7
2005/06	2.3	1.3	1.3	93.8	0.4	0.8	5.3
2006/07	2.5	1.3	1.4	93.5	0.4	0.8	5.6
2007/08	2.9	1.6	1.4	92.6	0.4	1.0	6.3
2008/09	3.9	2.1	1.6	90.8	0.5	1.0	8.1
2009/10	3.4	2.3	1.8	91.1	0.5	1.0	8.0
2010/11	4.2	3.2	1.8	89.0	0.8	1.0	10.0
2011/12	4.0	3.3	1.9	89.3	0.7	0.8	9.9
2012/13	3.9	3.3	2.0	89.3	0.7	1.0	9.9
2013/14	4.2	3.1	2.2	88.9	0.7	0.9	10.2
2014/15	4.3	3.5	2.2	88.5	0.7	0.9	10.7
2015/16	4.2	3.4	2.2	88.1	0.7	1.4	10.5

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Apprenticeship starts Percentage of apprenticeship starts by ethnicity over time Summary

This data shows that:

• between 2002/03 and 2015/16, the percentage of apprenticeship starts associated with learners from a White background decreased from 93.8% to 88.1% – this is broadly in line with population changes over the same period

• excluding the White ethnic group, the highest percentage of apprenticeship starts were associated with people from an Asian background – this reached its highest point in 2014/15 at 4.3%

4. Percentage of apprenticeship starts, compared with the overall population by ethnicity

• Location: England
• Time period: 2015/16
• Source: Apprenticeships and traineeships data

Percentage of apprenticeship starts by ethnicity, compared with the overall population by ethnicity

Ethnicity	Apprenticeship starts	Population (2015 estimate)
Asian	4.2	8.2
Black	3.4	3.7
Mixed	2.2	2.6
White	88.1	84.6
Other	0.7	1.1

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Apprenticeship starts Percentage of apprenticeship starts, compared with the overall population by ethnicity Summary

This data shows that:

• in 2015/16, 88.1% of apprenticeship starts were associated with learners from a White background, while White people made up 84.6% of the overall population

• 4.2% of apprenticeship starts were associated with learners from an Asian background, while Asian people made up 8.2% of the overall population

5. Methodology

This data is based on the individualised learner record (ILR), which is submitted by further education (FE) providers to the ESFA.

The ILR uses administrative data collected about learners by FE providers.

Ethnicity data is completed by the learner, and no adjustments are made by the learning provider.

Data on learners that forms part of the Employer Ownership Pilot (EOP) is gathered from employers in the same format as the ILR and included in the ILR dataset.

Suppression rules and disclosure control

Participant numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10 to avoid identification of individuals.

Numbers less than 5 have been suppressed.

Rounding

Participant numbers are rounded to the nearest 10.

Quality and methodology information

Further technical information

All providers must send records for learners financed by Advanced Learner Loans. Training organisations are asked to send details of apprenticeships that are not funded by the ESFA where they are delivered within the terms of a ESFA contract.

For higher and degree level apprenticeships, higher education institutions must send an ILR return for all apprenticeship standards and for 16-18 apprenticeship frameworks.

Read more about the individual learning record (ILR).

6. Data sources

Source

Apprenticeships and traineeships data

Type of data

Administrative data

Type of statistic

National Statistics

Publisher

Department for Education

Publication frequency

Yearly

Purpose of data source

Data about learners' demographics and their type of learning (including apprenticeships and apprenticeship aims) is used by Education and Skills Funding Agency to allocate funding for further education.

7. Download the data

Apprenticeship starts - Spreadsheet (csv) 17 KB

This file contains the following: ethnicity, year, value, numerator and denominator

Publication release date: 10 October 2017

Updated: 1 March 2018

full page history

1. 1 March 2018 Minor updates for style and accuracy
2. 18 December 2017 Correction of apprenticeship starts data for combined ethnic minorities
3. 11 October 2017 Technical change: Updated url to match page title.
4. 10 October 2017 First published

From: Department for Education

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