Apprenticeship starts
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1. Main facts and figures
- in the 10 years to July 2021, the percentage of apprenticeships started by people from Asian, black, mixed and ‘other’ ethnic backgrounds went up from 10.0% to 14.3%
- the total number of apprenticeships started went down from 520,580 to 321,440 (a 38% decrease)
- the number of apprenticeships started by people from ethnic minority backgrounds (excluding white minorities) went down from 51,350 to 44,850 (a 13% decrease)
- in the year ending July 2021, white people made up 85.7% of apprenticeship starts and 81.0% of the general population in England (based on data from the 2021 Census)
2. Things you need to know
What the data measures
The data shows the number of people who started an apprenticeship in a given academic year (1 August to 31 July), and their ethnicity.
The data only includes people funded by the government.
Participant numbers are rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages have been rounded to 1 decimal place.
Not included in the data
Numbers less than 5 have not been included in the data. This is to protect people’s confidentiality and because the numbers involved are too small to make reliable generalisations.
The ethnic groups used in the data
Data is shown for 5 aggregated ethnic groups:
- Asian
- black
- mixed
- white
- other
This means estimates are shown for these groups as a whole. This is because the number of people in apprenticeships was too small to make any reliable conclusions about any of the 19 ethnic groups used in the 2021 Census. The data does not include people whose ethnicity was not known. This was 2.3% of apprenticeship starts in the academic year ending July 2021.
Methodology
Read the detailed methodology document for this data on this page.
Someone studying more than one apprenticeship course with a single provider in an academic year is counted once. Someone studying with more than one provider is counted more than once.
3. By ethnicity over time
| All | Asian | Black | Mixed | White | Other | Unknown | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | All % | All Starts | Asian % | Asian Starts | Black % | Black Starts | Mixed % | Mixed Starts | White % | White Starts | Other % | Other Starts | Unknown % | Unknown Starts |
| 2002/03 | 100.0 | 167,690 | 2.1 | 3,510 | 1.5 | 2,560 | 1.1 | 1,770 | 94.6 | 157,270 | 0.6 | 1,060 | N/A* | 1,520 |
| 2003/04 | 100.0 | 193,560 | 2.2 | 4,210 | 1.5 | 2,820 | 1.2 | 2,260 | 94.8 | 182,140 | 0.3 | 670 | N/A* | 1,460 |
| 2004/05 | 100.0 | 189,030 | 2.5 | 4,660 | 1.6 | 2,920 | 1.3 | 2,460 | 94.2 | 176,450 | 0.4 | 820 | N/A* | 1,720 |
| 2005/06 | 100.0 | 174,970 | 2.4 | 4,100 | 1.4 | 2,350 | 1.3 | 2,310 | 94.5 | 164,120 | 0.4 | 750 | N/A* | 1,340 |
| 2006/07 | 100.0 | 184,430 | 2.6 | 4,680 | 1.3 | 2,430 | 1.5 | 2,660 | 94.3 | 172,470 | 0.4 | 750 | N/A* | 1,440 |
| 2007/08 | 100.0 | 224,770 | 2.9 | 6,500 | 1.6 | 3,600 | 1.4 | 3,150 | 93.6 | 208,230 | 0.4 | 1,000 | N/A* | 2,290 |
| 2008/09 | 100.0 | 239,960 | 4.0 | 9,450 | 2.2 | 5,110 | 1.6 | 3,840 | 91.7 | 217,890 | 0.5 | 1,220 | N/A* | 2,450 |
| 2009/10 | 100.0 | 279,670 | 3.4 | 9,390 | 2.3 | 6,390 | 1.8 | 5,020 | 92.0 | 254,780 | 0.5 | 1,430 | N/A* | 2,660 |
| 2010/11 | 100.0 | 457,210 | 4.3 | 19,270 | 3.2 | 14,610 | 1.8 | 8,290 | 89.9 | 407,050 | 0.8 | 3,440 | N/A* | 4,550 |
| 2011/12 | 100.0 | 520,580 | 4.0 | 20,720 | 3.4 | 17,350 | 1.9 | 9,850 | 90.1 | 464,960 | 0.7 | 3,430 | N/A* | 4,270 |
| 2012/13 | 100.0 | 510,220 | 3.9 | 19,690 | 3.3 | 16,590 | 2.0 | 10,110 | 90.1 | 455,440 | 0.7 | 3,380 | N/A* | 5,010 |
| 2013/14 | 100.0 | 440,420 | 4.3 | 18,600 | 3.1 | 13,650 | 2.2 | 9,470 | 89.7 | 391,480 | 0.7 | 3,110 | N/A* | 4,110 |
| 2014/15 | 100.0 | 499,910 | 4.3 | 21,510 | 3.5 | 17,250 | 2.2 | 10,930 | 89.3 | 442,340 | 0.7 | 3,500 | N/A* | 4,380 |
| 2015/16 | 100.0 | 509,370 | 4.3 | 21,380 | 3.5 | 17,500 | 2.2 | 11,100 | 89.4 | 448,830 | 0.7 | 3,500 | N/A* | 7,060 |
| 2016/17 | 100.0 | 494,890 | 4.5 | 22,010 | 3.7 | 18,080 | 2.3 | 11,020 | 88.7 | 434,220 | 0.9 | 4,200 | N/A* | 5,360 |
| 2017/18 | 100.0 | 375,770 | 4.7 | 17,430 | 3.3 | 12,340 | 2.5 | 9,390 | 88.6 | 327,720 | 0.8 | 3,070 | N/A* | 5,820 |
| 2018/19 | 100.0 | 393,380 | 5.5 | 21,370 | 3.5 | 13,510 | 2.7 | 10,520 | 87.5 | 338,330 | 0.8 | 2,990 | N/A* | 6,660 |
| 2019/20 | 100.0 | 322,530 | 5.8 | 18,250 | 3.9 | 12,240 | 2.7 | 8,680 | 86.7 | 273,980 | 0.9 | 2,970 | N/A* | 6,410 |
| 2020/21 | 100.0 | 321,450 | 6.1 | 19,280 | 4.2 | 13,200 | 3.0 | 9,520 | 85.7 | 269,170 | 0.9 | 2,850 | N/A* | 7,430 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV)
Summary of Apprenticeship starts By ethnicity over time Summary
The data shows that:
- in the 10 years to July 2021, the number of apprenticeships started by Asian people went down from 20,720 to 19,280
- the number started by people with mixed ethnicity went down from 9,850 to 9,520
- the number started by black people went down from 17,350 to 13,200
- the number started by white people went down from 464,960 to 269,170
- in the year ending July 2021, 85.7% of apprenticeships were started by white people, compared with 86.7% the year before
- 6.1% of apprenticeships were started by Asian people in the year ending July 2021, compared with 5.8% the year before
4. By ethnicity compared with the overall population
| Apprenticeship Starts | Population (2021 Census) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | Apprenticeship Starts % | Apprenticeship Starts Number | Population (2021 Census) % | Population (2021 Census) Number |
| All | 100.0 | 321,450 | 100.0 | 59,597,542 |
| Asian | 6.1 | 19,280 | 9.6 | 5,515,420 |
| Black | 4.2 | 13,200 | 4.2 | 2,409,278 |
| Mixed | 3.0 | 9,520 | 3.0 | 1,717,976 |
| White | 85.7 | 269,170 | 81.0 | 48,699,249 |
| Other | 0.9 | 2,850 | 2.2 | 1,255,619 |
| Unknown | N/A* | 7,430 | N/A* | N/A* |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity compared with the overall population’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity compared with the overall population’ (CSV)
Summary of Apprenticeship starts By ethnicity compared with the overall population Summary
The data shows that, in the year ending July 2021:
- white people made up 85.7% of apprenticeship starts and 81.0% of the overall population in England (based on data from the 2021 Census)
- Asian people made up 6.1% of apprenticeship starts and 9.6% of the overall population
- black people made up 4.2% of apprenticeship starts and 4.2% of the overall population
5. 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
The Education and Skills Funding Agency uses data about learners' demographics and their type of learning to allocate funding. Apprenticeships and apprenticeship aims are included in this data.
Secondary source
Ethnic group, national identity, language, and religion: Census 2021 in England and Wales
Type of data
Survey data
Type of statistic
Official statistics
Publisher
Office for National Statistics
Publication frequency
Ad-hoc
Purpose of data source
The Census takes place every 10 years. Census data gives the government the information it needs to plan and run public services. It is also used as a benchmark for other statistical estimates, and can help illustrate differences between various groups in the population.
6. Download the data
This file contains the following: measure, ethnicity, ethnicity_type, time, time_type, geography, geography_code, geography type, gender, age bracket, age bracket type, denominator, numerator, value