Apprenticeships are paid jobs that also include at least 20% off the job training (such as classroom learning) and leads to a nationally recognised qualification.

This document summaries the key trends in apprenticeships that have emerged over the last ten years, both in general across London as well as looking how starts and achievements vary across different demographics.

In recent years, the apprenticeship system in London has been subject to considerable changes. Firstly, the introduction of the apprenticeship levy in 2017/18 has shifted apprenticeships towards higher levels at larger organisations. Secondly, the pandemic has led to significant falls in the number of apprenticeships across the country. However, the pandemic has impacted London less because the pre-pandemic level was already lower. As the labour market in London recovers, there is opportunity to implement changes to increase the number of apprenticeships, and particularly improve access for those from all backgrounds.


Summary of key points


  • Despite an increase in the latest year, the number of apprenticehship starts in London in 20202/21 (36,930) was still below the 2018/19 level (40,740). Apprenticehsip starts nationally was virtually unchanged .

  • The age profile of people starting apprenticeships is changing: only 39% of apprenticeship starts in 2020/21 were from people aged under 25, falling 25% since 2018/19. Meanwhile the proportion of apprenticeship starts by people aged 25 or over increased from 56% in 2019/20 to 61% in 2020/21.

  • Apprenticeship starts in London are increasingly likely to be at higher level. Between 2019/20 and 2020/21, the number of higher level starts increased by 31%, while starts at advanced level were virtually unchanged and starts at intermediate level fell by 7%.

  • The ratio of female to male apprentices has remained relatively stable in London over the last five years. In 2020/21, women accounted for more than half of apprenticeship starts in London.

  • The profile of people starting apprenticeships in London is relatively ethnically diverse. In 2020/21, almost half (49%) of apprenticeship starts in London were by people from a Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic background, up from 47% in 2019/20.

  • Apprenticeship starts per 1,000 workforce in some of the Mayor’s priorities sectors (health, hospitality, creative, construction) have increased from 2019/20. However, starts remain lower than the levels reached in 2016-17. The exception is digital/ICT, where starts per 1,000 workforce have almost double since 2016/17.

  • Since the introduction of the apprenticeship levy, apprenticeships starts in London have become more concentrated in larger businesses. Since 2012/13 starts in large enterprises have grown by 23%, whereas medium and small firms starts have declined (-35% and -21% respectively).

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Measuring apprenticeships


The Department for Education (DfE) publishes annually data on apprenticeships over the last academic year. Its latest apprenticeship data covers the full academic year (August to July) 2020/21 and is based on the individualised learner record (ILR).

The DfE also publishes data which complements their apprenticeship and traineeship release which looks at apprenticeship by industry characteristics, which matches the ILR to the ONS’s Inter-departmental Business Register (IDBR).This dataset is able to give further information on the employer enterprise characteristics such as industry sector, size band and legal status.

This dashboard uses apprenticeship starts and achievements to measure apprenticeships in London. They are defined as follows by the DfE:

Starts:The number of apprenticeship programmes that begin in a given academic year, showing the take-up of programmes. An apprentice is counted for each apprenticeship they starts in a given academic year.

Achievements: The number of learners who successfully complete the programme. Data recorded as date of end-point assessment.

More information on the data used and a glossary of terms can be found on the DfE Website.

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Starts over time


Across England, there has been a fall in apprenticeship starts over the last ten years. With a particularly noticeable decline between 2018/19 to 2020/21 from 393,400 to 321,400.

In London, starts have been tending to fall but at a much slower rate than across England and over regions in the UK. Again, there is a noticeable pandemic effect with starts falling from 40,750 in 2018/19 to 36,930 in 2020/21.

Source: Department for Education - Apprenticeships and traineeships.
Note: Estimates are based on where students live.

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Starts and achievements compared to other regions

The graphs below shows that compared to other regions in England, London has a relatively lower amount of people starting apprenticeships. In 2020/21 6.1 people per 1,000 population started an apprenticeship, falling from 7.4 in 2010/2011. The lower rate is partially explained by the difference industry make-up in London. For instance, human health and social work has the highest volume of apprentices in England, but in terms of number of employees this sector is much smaller in London (11% of employee, compared to 14% for the rest of England).

However, the pandemic has meant that the gap between London and other regions in the UK has narrowed, and this potentially provides a new opportunity to try and encourage apprenticeships in London.

Achievements in London have also fallen in the last few years, with declines following the introduction of the apprenticeship levy as well as the Covid-19 pandemic. Again, London in 2020/21 had the lowest achievement rates per 1,000 than any other English region, with an achievement rate of 2.5 per 1,000 population.

Apprenticeship levels are included as government levelling up missions and metrics.

Starts by
region

Source: Department for Education - Apprenticeships and traineeships.
Note: Estimates are based on where students live.

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Starts per
1,000 population

Source: Department for Education - Apprenticeships and traineeships
ONS Population Estimate by local authority 16-64 population
Note: Estimates are based on where students live.

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Achievements
by region

Source: Department for Education - Apprenticeships and traineeships.
Note: Estimates are based on where students live.

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Achievements per
1,000 population

Source: Department for Education - Apprenticeships and traineeships
ONS Population Estimate by local authority 16-64 population
Note: Estimates are based on where students live.

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Starts by level

Over the last few years, there has been an increase in the number of individuals starting higher apprenticeships in London (equivalent to Level 4 or 5). Whereas, lower level apprenticeships (intermediate level) have been falling. This raises concerns whether those with lower skills are able to access apprenticeships, and affirms the need for pre-apprenticeship programmes.

Additionally, more starts at a higher level may explain why the total apprenticeship starts have fallen, as higher apprenticeship levels involve more costly training. For instance, businesses who pay the apprenticeship levy may decide to use their funding pot to have less apprentices, but have those apprentices study at a higher (and more costly) level.

What are the apprenticeship levels?

Level Equivalent education level
Intermediate 2 GCSE
Advanced 3 A level
Higher 4, 5, 6 and 7 Foundation degree and above
Degree 6 and 7 Bachelor’s or master’s degree

Source: Department for Education - Apprenticeships and traineeships.
Note: Estimates are based on where students live.

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Apprenticeships by borough

When looking across boroughs, a trend emerges that apprenticeships are concentrated in outer boroughs, with Croydon having 2,011 starts the highest number in London. For instance for the 5 boroughs with the highest number of apprenticeship starts per 1,000, 4 are from outer London boroughs, and the average starts per 1,000 is 16% higher in outer boroughs compared to inner boroughs.

As shown above, in London in 2020/21 there was 6.1 starts per 1,000 and 2.5 achievements per 1,000 population.

Starts by
Borough

Source: Department for Education - Apprenticeships and traineeships.
Contains Ordnance Survey data Crown copyright and database rights [2015].

Note: Estimates are based on where students live.

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Starts per
1,000 population

Source: Department for Education - Apprenticeships and traineeships
ONS Population Estimate by local authority 16-64 population. Contains Ordnance Survey data Crown copyright and database rights [2015].

Note: Estimates are based on where students live.

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Achievements by
Borough

Source: Department for Education - Apprenticeships and traineeships.
Contains Ordnance Survey data Crown copyright and database rights [2015].

Note: Estimates are based on where students live.

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Achievements per
1,000 population

Source: Department for Education - Apprenticeships and traineeships
ONS Population Estimate by local authority 16-64 population. Contains Ordnance Survey data Crown copyright and database rights [2015].

Note: Estimates are based on where students live.

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Starts by employer sector

The DfE’s statistics on apprenticeship by industry characteristics allows us to understand which industries the employers of apprentices are in. This can be combined with the ONS’s workforce jobs data to calculate for each sector the number of apprentice starts per 1,000 workforce jobs.

DfE’s data on apprenticeship by industry characteristics matches data from the Individualised Learning Record (ILR) with Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR).

This matching process are unable to fully match all apprenticeships recorded in the ILR and published in the apprenticeship and traineeships data.

For instance, in 2020/21 in England there were 321,400 apprenticeships recorded in the ILR, but only 303,730 matched with the IDBR. Therefore, it should be noted that these industry statistics are not directly comparable.

  • Over the last few years, Human Health and Social Work employers have had the most apprenticeship starts, both in terms of total starts (9,410 in 2020/21) and in starts per 1,000 workforce (12.4 starts per 1,000 workforce jobs)

  • Between 2016-2017 and 2020-21 the sectors with the largest rises in starts per 1,000 workforce jobs were Public Administration and Defense and Finance & Insurance, which both saw the rate double over the period. On the other hand, Arts, Entertainment & Recreation saw the largest fall in the rate with greater than 50% fall.

  • Focusing on some of the Mayor’s priorities sectors (health, hospitality, creative, construction) in 2020/21 apprenticeship starts per 1,000 workforce increased relative to 2019/20. However, starts per 1,000 still remain lower than the levels reached in 2016-17. The exception is digital/ICT, which has increased from 5.6 per 1,000 workforce in 2018/19 to 9.0 in 2020/21.


Total starts by sector

Source: Department for Education - Apprenticeships by industry characteristic.
Note: Estimates are based on where students live.

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Starts per 1,000 workforce jobs

Source: Department for Education - Apprenticeships by industry characteristic
ONS workforce jobs by industry SA
Note: Estimates are based on where students live.

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Apprenticeships by business size

Looking at apprenticeships by business size, a clear trend emerges that the majority of apprenticeships happen in large (250+ employees) firms. This would be expected because larger companies tend to have the additional resources needed to support an apprentice.

However, since the introduction of the apprenticeship levy in 2017, there has been a striking pattern of apprenticeships shifting further towards larger organisations while SMEs have reduced their uptake of apprenticeships.

Starts

Source: Department for Education - Apprenticeships by industry characteristic.
Note: Estimates are based on where students live.

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Achievements

Source: Department for Education - Apprenticeships by industry characteristic.
Note: Estimates are based on where students live.

What is the apprenticeship levy?

Prior to 2017, the government paid all the training costs of a 16-18 year old apprentice, half of the costs of a 19-23 year old and up to half for those over 24.

Under the new levy system, those who pay the levy can pay for training costs from their levy contributions, which the government tops up by 10%. For those who do not pay the levy, the government pays for 90% of the training cost, with additional payment incentives for hiring younger apprentices.

The levy is paid by companies whose payroll bill is over £3 million each year, at a rate of 0.5% of this bill minus an allowance of £15,000 pa. The levy paid can only be used to pay the training costs of apprentices.

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