Participation in apprenticeships
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1. Main facts and figures
- in the 10 years to July 2021, the percentage of apprentices from Asian, black, mixed and ‘other’ ethnic backgrounds went up from 9.7% to 13.2%
- the total number of apprentices went down from 806,500 to 713,000 – but the number of apprentices from Asian, black, mixed and ‘other’ backgrounds went up from 76,900 to 93,000
- in the academic year ending July 2021, white people made up 86.7% of apprentices, 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 studying for one or more apprenticeships in a given academic year (1 August to 31 July), and their ethnicity.
The data only includes people funded by the government.
Participant numbers have been rounded to the nearest 100. Percentages have been calculated using rounded numbers.
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 1.9% of apprenticeship participants in the academic year ending July 2019.
Methodology
Read the detailed methodology document for the 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 Apprentices | Asian % | Asian Apprentices | Black % | Black Apprentices | Mixed % | Mixed Apprentices | White % | White Apprentices | Other % | Other Apprentices | Unknown % | Unknown Apprentices |
| 2008/09 | 100.0 | 444,700 | 3.1 | 13,700 | 1.8 | 7,800 | 1.5 | 6,400 | 93.2 | 411,000 | 0.5 | 2,000 | N/A* | 3,800 |
| 2009/10 | 100.0 | 491,200 | 3.0 | 14,400 | 2.1 | 10,000 | 1.6 | 7,900 | 92.9 | 452,700 | 0.5 | 2,300 | N/A* | 3,900 |
| 2010/11 | 100.0 | 665,900 | 3.7 | 24,500 | 2.7 | 18,000 | 1.7 | 11,400 | 91.2 | 602,400 | 0.6 | 4,100 | N/A* | 5,500 |
| 2011/12 | 100.0 | 806,500 | 4.0 | 31,600 | 3.2 | 25,500 | 1.8 | 14,300 | 90.4 | 722,800 | 0.7 | 5,500 | N/A* | 6,800 |
| 2012/13 | 100.0 | 868,700 | 3.8 | 32,800 | 3.3 | 28,500 | 1.9 | 16,200 | 90.3 | 776,200 | 0.7 | 6,000 | N/A* | 9,000 |
| 2013/14 | 100.0 | 851,400 | 4.0 | 34,000 | 3.3 | 27,400 | 2.0 | 17,000 | 90.0 | 758,400 | 0.7 | 5,500 | N/A* | 9,100 |
| 2014/15 | 100.0 | 871,700 | 4.3 | 37,000 | 3.4 | 29,500 | 2.1 | 18,300 | 89.5 | 773,400 | 0.7 | 5,900 | N/A* | 7,600 |
| 2015/16 | 100.0 | 899,400 | 4.3 | 38,400 | 3.6 | 31,500 | 2.2 | 19,100 | 89.3 | 791,700 | 0.7 | 6,200 | N/A* | 12,500 |
| 2016/17 | 100.0 | 908,700 | 4.4 | 39,300 | 3.7 | 33,000 | 2.2 | 19,700 | 89.0 | 801,200 | 0.8 | 6,900 | N/A* | 8,600 |
| 2017/18 | 100.0 | 814,900 | 4.5 | 36,200 | 3.6 | 29,000 | 2.3 | 18,400 | 88.8 | 714,000 | 0.8 | 6,600 | N/A* | 10,700 |
| 2018/19 | 100.0 | 742,400 | 5.0 | 36,700 | 3.5 | 25,300 | 2.5 | 18,600 | 88.2 | 645,700 | 0.8 | 5,600 | N/A* | 10,500 |
| 2019/20 | 100.0 | 718,900 | 5.5 | 38,600 | 3.6 | 25,200 | 2.6 | 18,700 | 87.5 | 618,700 | 0.8 | 5,800 | N/A* | 11,900 |
| 2020/21 | 100.0 | 713,100 | 5.8 | 40,700 | 3.8 | 26,800 | 2.8 | 19,600 | 86.7 | 606,600 | 0.8 | 5,900 | N/A* | 13,500 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV)
Summary of Participation in apprenticeships By ethnicity over time Summary
This data shows that:
- in the 10 years to July 2021, the total number of apprentices went down from 806,500 to 713,100
- the number of Asian apprentices went up from 31,600 to 40,700
- the number of apprentices from mixed ethnic backgrounds went up from 14,300 to 19,600
- the number of white apprentices went down from 722,800 to 606,600
- in the year ending July 2021, 86.7% of apprentices were white, compared with 87.5% in the previous year
- the percentage of apprentices from Asian, black and mixed backgrounds went up compared with the previous year – the percentage from ‘other’ ethnic backgrounds was the same
4. By ethnicity compared with the overall population
| Apprentices | Population (2021 Census) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | Apprentices % | Apprentices Numerator | Population (2021 Census) % | Population (2021 Census) Numerator |
| All | 100.0 | 713,100 | 100.0 | 59,597,542 |
| Asian | 5.8 | 40,700 | 9.6 | 5,515,420 |
| Black | 3.8 | 26,800 | 4.2 | 2,409,278 |
| Mixed | 2.8 | 19,600 | 3.0 | 1,717,976 |
| White | 86.7 | 606,600 | 81.0 | 48,699,249 |
| Other | 0.8 | 5,900 | 2.2 | 1,255,619 |
| Unknown | N/A* | 13,500 | 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 Participation in apprenticeships By ethnicity compared with the overall population Summary
This data shows that, in the year ending 2021:
- white people made up 86.7% of apprentices and 81.0% of the overall population in England (based on data from the 2021 Census)
- Asian people made up 5.8% of apprentices and 9.6% of the overall population
- black people made up 3.8% of apprentices 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 type, geography_code, gender, age bracket, age bracket type, denominator, numerator, value