Apprenticeship learning programmes started: February to April 2020 (provisional)

These quarterly statistics, published on StatsWales with complementary dashboards present information on the number apprenticeship learning programmes started. Includes data by region of domicile, programme type, age group, sector, gender, ethnicity, disability and academic year.

2019/20 Q3 (February to April 2020) data is provisional. Data for earlier quarters are final. Provisional figures will be produced on a quarterly basis with final data published in February. 

The number of apprenticeship starts in 2019/20 quarter 3 is inflated by the transfer of learners from consortium members that were previously part of the Vocational Skills Partnership to new lead providers. Caution should be taken when considering 2019/20 quarter 3 figures alongside figures for previous quarters. Around 865 new starts recorded in this quarter were as a result of these transfers. This group includes a higher proportion of starts in the following categories:

• higher apprenticeships
• females
• the ‘healthcare and public services’ and ‘management and professional’ sectors
• learners aged 25 and over
• learners who are not disabled

These starts are not included in the apprenticeship target measure as it accounts for transfers and early drop outs (within the first 8 weeks).

Main points from the latest data

• There were 5,170 apprenticeship learning programmes started in 2019/20 Q3 compared with 5,110 in 2018/19 Q3, an increase of 1%. This increase is driven by the transfer of apprentices mentioned above. The number of apprenticeship starts regularly fluctuates from one period to the next.
• In 2019/20 Q3, Healthcare and Public Services was the most popular broad sector. 56% of all apprenticeship learning programmes started, compared with 43% in Q3 the previous year. 
• In 2019/20 Q3, around 70% of all apprenticeship learning programmes started were by female learners, compared with 67% in Q3 in the previous year.
• The Welsh Government has a target for 100,000 apprenticeships over the course of this Senedd term (2016-2021). This is assessed using a more rigorous measure which takes account of early drop outs (within first 8 weeks) and transfers between apprenticeship records. Under this measure, 3,655 apprenticeship learning programmes were started in 2019/20 Q3 and 95,790 since the target was introduced.
• Management information derived from the LLWR indicates that, as of 22 October 2020, there has been in excess of 100,000 apprenticeship learning programmes started according to the target measure. It should be noted that this management information has not undergone validation or further data quality checks, which are undertaken for the official statistics published in this release.

This release will continue to be updated to reflect progress towards the target according to the pre-announced timetable. It is expected that the 2020/21 quarter 1 release will reflect the target being reached. This is provisionally scheduled for publication in May 2021.