Participation in apprenticeships

Published 10 October 2017

Last updated 1 March 2018 - see all updates

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Contents

1. Main facts and figures

• between 2008/09 and 2015/16, the percentage of apprentices from ethnic minority groups (excluding White minorities) increased from 6.7% to 10.6%

• the number of people from ethnic minority groups (excluding White minorities) who participated in apprenticeships grew by 3 times over the reported period, from 29,980 to 95,200

• total apprenticeship participation more than doubled, from 444,800 to 899,400

• in 2015/16, 88.0% of apprentices were from a White background, which is higher than their share of the overall population (84.6%)

Things you need to know

Data collected before 2011 has not been reclassified to the 2011 Census ethnicity groupings. This means data from 2008/09 to 2010/11 is not directly comparable to data collected after that period.

This methodology change also means that the number of people taking apprenticeships is overestimated by 1% to 2% between 2008/09 and 2010/11.

What the data measures

This data measures people studying for one or more apprenticeship 'aims'. An apprenticeship 'aim' is an individual learning module taken as part of an apprenticeship.

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

A person studying for more than one apprenticeship aim with one training provider will be counted once. Someone who studies with more than one provider in an academic year will be counted separately at each. In that case they will be counted as 2 or more participants.

A training provider is an organisation that offers apprenticeship training.

The data only includes people funded by government.

To provide additional context, the percentage of people on apprenticeships by ethnic group has been compared to 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 apprentices by ethnicity over time

• Location: England
• Time period: 2008/09 to 2015/16
• Source: Apprenticeships and traineeships data

Number of apprentices by ethnicity over time

Year	All	Asian	Black	Mixed	White	Other	Unknown	Ethnic minority (excl.White Minorities)
	Apprentices	Apprentices	Apprentices	Apprentices	Apprentices	Apprentices	Apprentices	Apprentices
2008/09	444,800	13,720	7,840	6,430	410,960	1,990	3,830	29,980
2009/10	491,300	14,440	10,010	7,890	452,680	2,330	3,920	34,670
2010/11	665,900	24,540	17,950	11,380	602,420	4,140	5,460	58,010
2011/12	806,500	31,640	25,450	14,290	722,760	5,540	6,800	76,920
2012/13	868,700	32,800	28,500	16,200	776,200	6,000	9,000	83,500
2013/14	851,500	34,000	27,400	17,000	758,400	5,500	9,100	83,900
2014/15	871,800	37,000	29,500	18,300	773,400	5,900	7,600	90,700
2015/16	899,400	38,400	31,500	19,100	791,700	6,200	12,500	95,200

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Participation in apprenticeships Number of apprentices by ethnicity over time Summary

This data shows that:

• between 2008/09 and 2015/16, the number of Black apprentices grew by 4 times, from 7,840 to 31,500

• the number of apprentices from the Asian, Mixed and Other ethnic groups grew by 3 times, from 13,720 to 38,400, from 6,430 to 19,100, and from 1,990 to 6,200 respectively

• the number of White apprentices doubled, from 410,960 to 791,700

3. Percentage of apprentices by ethnicity over time

• Location: England
• Time period: 2008/09 to 2015/16
• Source: Apprenticeships and traineeships data

Percentage of apprentices by ethnicity over time

Year	Asian	Black	Mixed	White	Other	Unknown	Ethnic minority (excl. White minorities)
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
2008/09	3.1	1.8	1.4	92.4	0.4	0.9	6.7
2009/10	2.9	2.0	1.6	92.1	0.5	0.8	7.0
2010/11	3.7	2.7	1.7	90.5	0.6	0.8	8.7
2011/12	3.9	3.2	1.8	89.6	0.7	0.8	9.6
2012/13	3.8	3.3	1.9	89.4	0.7	1.0	9.7
2013/14	4.0	3.2	2.0	89.1	0.6	1.1	9.8
2014/15	4.2	3.4	2.1	88.7	0.7	0.9	10.4
2015/16	4.3	3.5	2.1	88.0	0.7	1.4	10.6

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Participation in apprenticeships Percentage of apprentices by ethnicity over time Summary

This data shows that:

• the percentage of apprentices who were White has gradually declined over the period studied, from 92.4% in 2008/09 to 88.0% in 2015/16 – this is broadly in line with population changes over the same period

• in the period since 2008/09, the highest percentage of apprentices (excluding White apprentices) were from an Asian background – this reached its highest point in 2015/16 at 4.3%

4. Participation in apprenticeships by ethnicity, compared with the overall population by ethnicity

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

Percentage of apprentices by ethnicity, compared with the overall population by ethnicity

Ethnicity	Apprentices	Population (2015 estimate)
	%	%
Asian	4.3	8.2
Black	3.5	3.7
Mixed	2.1	2.6
White	88.0	84.6
Other	0.7	1.1

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Participation in apprenticeships Participation in apprenticeships by ethnicity, compared with the overall population by ethnicity Summary

This data shows that:

• in 2015/16, 88.0% of apprentices were White, while people from the White ethnic group made up 84.6% of the overall population

• 4.3% of apprentices were Asian, while people from the Asian ethnic group 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.

Data about learners' demographics and the type of learning they're doing is used by ESFA to allocate funding. 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

Participation in apprenticeships - Spreadsheet (csv) 10 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
2. 11 October 2017 Technical change: Updated url to match page title.
3. 10 October 2017 First published

From: Department for Education

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