Apprenticeship starts

The January 2021 release of apprenticeship statistics from the Department for Education provides provisional in-year figures for the first quarter of the 2020/21 academic year (August to October 2020). Totals are compared with totals in the first quarters of previous academic years. A separate release gave statistics for full academic years up to and including 2019/20.

In the first quarter of the 2020/21 academic year:

• There were 3,540 apprenticeship starts in the North East LEP area, 34 per cent below the total in quarter 1 (Q1) of 2019/20
• intermediate apprenticeship starts were at only half the level of a year earlier while advanced starts had fallen by 35 per cent
• the number of higher apprenticeship starts had only slightly decreased and was 30 per cent of the total, up from 20 per cent in Q1 of 2019/20
• male and female apprenticeship starts were, respectively, 39 and 27 per cent lower than a year earlier
• starts in the under 19 age group were only half the level they were in Q1 of 2019/20
• among those aged 19 to 24 and the 25 plus age group the totals were, respectively, 33 and 17 per cent lower than a year earlier
• apprenticeship starts in engineering and manufacturing technologies were 50 per cent below their 2019/20 Q1 levels
• starts in information and communication technology and in retail and commercial enterprise were also much lower than a year earlier
• starts in health, public services and care had only decreased by 11 per cent.

The 2019/20 academic year included five months (March to July) where restrictions due to COVID-19 were in place. During the year:

• There were about 13,000 apprenticeship starts, which was 23 per cent below the 2018/19 total
• intermediate and advanced apprenticeship starts were, respectively, 38 and 20 per cent below 2018/19 levels
• the number of higher apprenticeship starts was 4 per cent higher than in the previous year
• male and female apprenticeship starts were, respectively, 19 and 26 per cent lower than in 2018/19
• starts in the three broad age groups had decreased by similar percentages compared to the previous year
• retail and commercial enterprise saw the largest percentage year on year decrease in starts (down 42 per cent).