Apprentices furloughed or made redundant during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic: up to 27 November 2020

This data is management information provided to the Welsh Government by apprenticeship providers, combined with records from the Lifelong Learning Wales Record (LLWR). It has not undergone the same level of quality assurance as official statistics.

The total number of apprentices has been adjusted to exclude learners who had been transferred to another programme. All percentages have been revised based on this change to the total.

Main points

• 1,255 apprentices were fully furloughed on 27 November 2020.
• The number of apprentices furloughed has continued to fall. 500 fewer apprentices were fully furloughed this month than in the previous month.  
• Less than 0.5% of apprenticeships have been terminated due to redundancy during the pandemic.
• Another 145 apprentices (less than 0.5%) had been made redundant but remain in learning whilst their provider tries to source an alternative employer.
• Fewer apprenticeships have ended, successfully or unsuccessfully, compared to previous years.
• Only 19% of apprentices have successfully completed their apprenticeship or gone into employment, compared to an average of 27% by this point in past years.

As the number of apprentices furloughed has fallen, the inequalities in who has been furloughed have lessened. However some remain, the apprentices still most affected were:

• young
• working in hair and beauty; or leisure, sport and travel
• not studying higher apprenticeships
• working for companies with less than 10 employees
• not working in the public sector

Information on the overall number of people furloughed in Wales can be found in the report 'Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Self-Employment Income Support Scheme statistics'.