UPDATE 31st March 2022: Error corrected in apprenticeship achievement rates
Revised achievement rates for 2019/20, originally published in March 2021, are now available in the latest release. Click here to access.
December 2021 update
This December monthly update makes changes to the ‘Apprenticeship Service and monthly transparency data’ and ‘Additional analysis’ sections. The latest available apprenticeship service data is provided, along with additional analysis relevant to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Please note: the first in-year apprenticeship starts data for the 2021/22 academic year will be published in January 2022 and will cover August to October 2021.
November 2021 release
This release showed full-year final data on apprenticeships and traineeships in England for the 2020/21 academic year (August 2020 to July 2021).
This full update also included the latest available apprenticeship service data including commitments, registrations, and reservations.
Skills Toolkit
We have also updated headline statistics relating to the Skills Toolkit website on course registrations and completions (please see the ‘Additional Analysis’ section). A separate downloadable file in the ‘Explore data and files’ section (as published in November 2021) contains registrations and completions by provider and individual course (‘Skills toolkit course registrations and completions as at 08-11-2021’).
Impact of COVID-19 on reporting of FE and apprenticeship data
The 2020/21 data covers a period affected by varying COVID-19 restrictions, which will have impacted on apprenticeship and traineeship learning, and provider reporting behaviour via the Individualised Learner Record. Therefore, extra care should be taken when comparing academic years and interpreting data presented in this release.
Please note that the ‘Explore data and files’ section contains the underlying files that underpin this release and allows expert users to interrogate and analyse the data for themselves. For pre-populated summary statistics please see the relevant section underneath, from which the data can be further explored using the ‘Explore data’ functionality. You can also view featured tables or create your own table using the ‘create tables' functionality.
Higher apprenticeships accounted for nearly a third of starts (30.7% or 98,800 starts)
Intermediate apprenticeships accounted for over a quarter of starts (26.2% or 84,100 starts)
Under 19s accounted for 20.3% of starts (65,100)
Starts supported by Apprenticeship Service Account (ASA) levy funds accounted for 63.9% (205,300) – please see ‘About these statistics’ for more information about ASA levy funds
Apprenticeship standards made up 98.7% of starts (317,100). Note: In 2020/21 there are a small number of starts on frameworks. All remaining apprenticeship frameworks were withdrawn to new learners on 31 July 2020. Learners who started on frameworks are where it has been agreed a learner can return to a previous framework they have been on after an extensive break
As at the end of the 2020/21 academic year, since May 2015 there have been 2,532,700 apprenticeship starts and since May 2010 this total stands at 4,910,200
Note: In our November 2020 full year release we stated that we were treating 2019/20 achievements as provisional at that stage. Following further analysis, we are now treating the 2019/20 data as final - please see ‘About these statistics’ for more information.
Explore data and files
All data used in this release is available as open data for download
This update provides the latest available apprenticeship service data, along with additional analysis relevant to the COVID-19 outbreak. These official statistics include:
Apprenticeship service commitments, registrations, and reservations
Apprenticeship incentive payments
Employers reporting the withdrawal of apprentices due to redundancy
Adverts and vacancies as reported on the Find an apprenticeship website
This update includes experimental statistics relating to the Skills Toolkit website on course registrations and completions (please see the ‘Additional Analysis’ section). A separate downloadable file (published alongside the November 2021 release) in the ‘Explore data and files’ section contains registrations and completions by provider and individual course (‘Skills toolkit course registrations and completions as at 27-06-2021’). This downloadable file is updated alongside our quarterly statistics releases.
Please note: the first in-year apprenticeship starts data for the 2021/22 academic year will be published in January 2022 and will cover August to October 2021.
November 2021 release
This statistical release presented finalised information on all age (16+) apprenticeships starts, achievements and participation in England reported for the full 2020/21 academic year (August 2020 to July 2021).
Also published were official statistics covering :
Apprenticeship service commitments, registrations, and reservations
Apprenticeship incentive payments
Employers reporting the withdrawal of apprentices due to redundancy
Adverts and vacancies as reported on the Find an apprenticeship website
This full update also included experimental statistics relating to the Skills Toolkit website on course registrations and completions (please see the ‘Additional Analysis’ section).
A separate release covers overall further education and skills data. Please see the ‘Further education and skills’ statistics publication. Please note that the overall FE and skills release includes the adult apprenticeships and traineeships published here in its headline figures.
Individualised Learner Record (ILR) administrative data
The apprenticeship starts, achievements and participation data in this release is based on the final ILR data return from FE and apprenticeship providers for the 2020/21 academic year. The ILR is an administrative data collection system designed primarily for operational use in order to fund training providers for learners in FE and on apprenticeship programmes.
National achievement rate tables data
Figures in the ‘national achievement rate tables’ section are as published in March 2021. These official statistics cover achievement rates for apprenticeships in the 2019 to 2020 academic year and would have been previously released as part of the standalone National achievement rate tables publication. As confirmed in our guidance, due to Coronavirus (COVID-19), we have not published institution-level qualification achievement rates (QARs) in the national achievement rate tables for the 2019 to 2020 academic year. We have published high level summaries of QARs for statistical purposes.
Achievement rates covering the 2020 to 2021 academic year will be published as part of our March 2022 statistics update.
2019/20 achievement data update
In November 2020, achievements for 2019/20 were marked as provisional in the end of year release. This release was based on the 2019/20 final provider return, R14. This reflected uncertainty over whether providers were in the position to report final achievements for 2019/20 given alternate arrangements for exams and assessments which were in place over the COVID-19 period. Analysis of 2019/20 data at the time showed higher levels of records than normal being marked in the achievement field as ‘results unknown’ or being marked in the completion field as ‘learning continuing’. Given this ambiguity the results were marked as provisional pending further data from providers to clarify the position.
Reporting flexibilities were implemented to allow providers to continue to report achievements in the 2020/21 returns and analysis of the 2020/21 R04 return of those with planned end dates for 2019/20 as at R14 has found these learners had either gone on to achieve but have been marked with an achievement date in the 2020/21 period or have been marked as continuing learning beyond the original planned end date.
Please note that the ILR is an administrative system designed for financial reporting and does not offer the level of precision one might need to estimate real world impact from the disruption of the pandemic. The new analysis requires linking of learners across years which leads to a small degree of error and it is possible providers will go on to change records as reported at R04 in the 2020/21 data (which the analysis was based on), or add new records for the small proportion of learners for whom a link in 2020/21 could not be found in the R04 data.
However, given that the vast majority of records have been linked and found to have either achieved in 2020/21 or are recorded as continuing learning, it seems on balance appropriate to take provider reporting for the end of year return and for 2020/21 as a true record. We therefore will treat 2019/20 achievements published in November as a final record.
Comparison of achievements for 2019/20 with 2018/19 and with 2020/21 should also be treated with caution because the disruption to exams and assessments and breaks in learning etc will have led to less achievements in 2019/20 than would normally have been expected to achieve. Likewise, the 2020/21 year will have more achievements than would have otherwise been the case, given delays in training or passing assessments etc.
Provider reporting during the COVID-19 pandemic
The latest data in this publication covers a period affected by varying COVID-19 restrictions which will have impacted on apprenticeship and traineeship learning. Therefore, extra care should be taken in comparing and interpreting data presented in this release.
The furlough scheme may also have impacted on how aspects of ILR data were recorded, such as how the ‘learning status’ of a learner was captured, e.g. whether a learner was recorded as a continuing learner or whether they were recorded as being on a break in learning while still being with an employer.
Starts supported by Apprenticeship Service Account (ASA) levy funds
In our January 2020 Apprenticeships and Traineeships release (which reported the first apprenticeships starts data for the 2019/20 academic year) we changed our terminology from ‘Levy-supported starts’ to ‘Starts supported by ASA levy funds’ to better reflect what we are actually counting. We also changed our approach in calculating such starts. Prior to the January 2020 release we had been publishing the number of levy supported starts based on a match between ILR starts data have to information in an organisation’s ASA – this is known as the ‘data lock’, and is essential for payment of levy funds.
As this data match did not always occur in a timely way during the early part of the academic year this leads to an under-count when using this approach to identify whether a start is funded by the levy and could provide a misleading picture of the true level of such starts. To improve of the count for in year starts from January 2020 we started using an alternative approach based on a new ILR field that recorded the contract type an apprentice is funded through as reported in the ILR, which could be used to identify a start as being ‘supported by ASA levy funds’. As we progress through the year, providers update their information on the ILR and by the final ILR return the data lock issue should be resolved to allow payments to be made. From January 2020 we used this new approach for all in year reporting and noted that there will be no back series on the new approach in year, and that a time series would only be available for the final end of year data.
From 09 January 2020 the apprenticeship service was extended for all non-levy paying employers to register and use. This has led to a minor methodology change again for 2020/21 in how we count starts supported by ASA levy funds as the new ILR field mentioned above that records contract type now includes both ‘levied’ and ‘non-levied’ starts. To improve the accuracy of the count we now include we are using other ‘markers’ in the apprenticeship service to arrive at a better estimate now that we can no longer use the old method reliably. This particularly affects starts at the end of the year where it helps better identify potential ‘levied’ starts that have yet to generate payment in the system. Using this method improves the accuracy of our overall estimate of ‘levied’ starts figure, but it does potentially include small numbers of ‘non-levied’ starts.
The change to the approach in counting makes a minor difference to the actual volumes, but should be taken into account when making comparisons between 2020/21 and previous years.
Please note: the apprenticeship programme is largely funded by the apprenticeship levy, although an organisation can choose to fund apprenticeships themselves.
Public sector apprenticeship statistics
Public bodies who are in scope are required to submit a Data Publication and Activity return to the Department for Education each reporting year of the apprenticeship target. In their returns, public bodies provide self-reported information on the employment period and headcount relating to the target. The onus is on individual bodies to be accountable for their programme and to publish this information independently as well as report progress to the DfE.
The underlying data for the target exactly replicates the information supplied by public sector bodies. As such, the accuracy of these submissions cannot be completely verified in all aspects, although certain validation checks have been undertaken and some bodies removed from the calculation of aggregated numbers and flagged in the underlying data.
Certain inconsistencies may appear between headcount and apprentice data submitted in each reporting year by an individual body. Some of these can be explained by a change in structure in the body (e.g. a merger).
It is difficult to give a completely accurate measure of the coverage of submission received. An internal mapping based on Apprenticeship Service account names has identified those that appear to be public sector but not all those flagged will be in scope (e.g. some will have fewer than 250 staff). Comparing the 2020-21 submissions with our mapping of accounts suggest that at least 60% of all public sector bodies, irrespective of size, have made an official return. Further to this, linking accounts to starts recorded on the ILR suggests that over 90% of all public sector starts were in the bodies that have made an official return.
The group of public sector bodies making a data return in 2020-21 is different to those that responded in previous years;
some bodies that submitted in previous years have not supplied data for 2020-21
some bodies have submitted for the first time for 2020-21
some bodies have either fallen in or out of scope of the target based on the 250 headcount threshold
multi academy trusts were not required to submit data in 2017-18.
As such, the aggregate totals for headcount and apprentices as at 31 March 2020 (the end- point of the 2019-20 collection and the start point of 2020-21) will differ between collections. The same is true for the transitions between 2017-18 and 2018-19, and 2018-19 to 2019-20.
Aggregate headcount and apprentice figures and associated percentages are provided separately for the start and end of each reporting year. In addition, an average percentage of employees starting an apprenticeship over the period of the target is calculated as a weighted average of the three reporting years so far.
Further information about the data collection process, the public bodies in scope and the mapping of Apprenticeship Service Accounts to sectors, can be found in the technical information section of the November 2018 release.
This section provides guidance on finding data and providing feedback.
Find my data
To find information on topics of interest, expand the content sections i.e. Subject, Geographical breakdowns, Provider. In each section, there will be:
Tables/charts and summary commentary on the relevant area
Links to additional pre-prepared tables
You can also create your own tables through the table tool or modify the pre-prepared tables which use the same files.
In the ‘Interactive data visualisation tool’ section, there is a link to a new experimental data tool which has been developed to complement the release.
There is a Methodology document which is linked under ‘Useful information’ at the top of this release, which contains further information on the statistics published here.
At the top of the release, there is a link ‘Explore data and files’ which includes:
Data that sits underneath the release
Supporting tables created outside the EES platform
Underlying CSV files that contain richer base data, and associated metadata files
Summary tables displayed in each of the sections contain the latest full year data, along with comparative data for each of the previous two years
The pre-prepared tables (available at the bottom of each section) contain more information, and where possible show final full year data from 2015/16 to 2020/21. Due to performance limitations, some of these files contain fewer historical years.
If you are looking for historical data not available in this release, see the FE data library where there is more than six years’ worth of data.
In the latest figures covering the 2020/21 academic year:
Apprenticeship starts were down by 0.3% to 321,400, compared to 322,500 reported for the same period in 2019/20.
Learner participation decreased by 0.8% to 713,000, compared to 719,000 in 2019/20.
Apprenticeship achievements increased by 6.6% to 156,500, compared to 146,900 in 2019/20
Note: apprenticeship starts are a count of apprenticeship programmes that begin in an academic year. For more detail on how we count starts and other measures please the Further education and skills statistics: methodology document.
Higher apprenticeships continue to grow, despite the overall fall in starts reported in 2020/21. Higher apprenticeship starts increased by 19.8% to 98,800, compared to 82,500 in the same period last year.
Starts at Level 6 and 7 (39,200) increased by 28.7% compared to 2019/20 . This represents 12.2% of all starts reported for 2020/21. There were 30,500 Level 6 and 7 starts in the previous year (9.4% of all starts).
Create your own tables
More detailed breakdowns of the combinations of characteristics in the tables above are available in our table builder tool as well as information on achievements and participation. The following table offers useful breakdowns as a starting point for 2015/16 to 2020/21 reported to date.
The latest figures in this section relate to the 2020/21 academic year and were first published in November 2021.
History of apprenticeship participation
Latest figures for 2020/21 show all-age apprenticeship participation was 713,000.
There has been a steady decline in participation since a high of 908,700 in 2016/17. This is driven by a rapid decline in participation at intermediate level.
In contrast, participation in higher apprenticeships has increased steadily since 2014/15.
Participation in apprenticeships by those aged 19+ in 2020/21 was 594,400 – an increase of 1.9% on the 2019/20 figure of 583,400.
Putting those figures into context, the total number of adults participating in all further education and skills was just over 1.64 million in 2020/21
Apprenticeship starts
Final 2020/21 figures show:
Higher apprenticeship (level 4+) starts reached their highest volume, representing almost a third of all starts.
The share of starts for under 19s fell to 20.3% from 23.6% in 2019/20
Total starts supported by ASA levy funds were 205,300; this accounts for 63.9% of all starts. Please see About these statistics for more information about ASA levy funds
Higher apprenticeship starts have increased over time. These accounted for just 4.0% of starts (19,800) in 2014/15, rising to 30.7% (98,800) in 2020/21.
Create your own tables
More detailed breakdowns of the combinations of characteristics in the tables above are available in our table builder tool as well as information on achievements and participation. The following table offers a useful breakdown as a starting point for 2014/15 to 2020/21.
Out of the 321,400 apprenticeship starts reported to date:
Females account for 53.4% (171,800 starts)
Apprentices aged Under 19 account for 20.3% (65,100)
19 to 24-year-olds account for 29.4% (94,600)
Apprentices aged 25 and over account for 50.3% (161,700)
Black, Asian, and other ethnic minorities (BAME) represent 14.3% (44,800)
Apprentices declaring a learner learning difficulty and/or disability (LLDD) account for 12.4% (38,600)
Since 2018/19, apprentices aged 25 and over have the highest share of starts. In 2018/19 the proportion of starts aged 25 or over was 45.7%, while in 2020/21 it increased to 50.3%.
Across the same time, 19-24 starts had the second highest share (29.5% in 2018/19 and 29.4% in 2020/21) and Under 19 starts had the lowest share, (24.8% in 2018/19 and 20.3% in 2020/21).
Even though the number of BAME starts in 2020/21 (44,800) is a decrease compared to 48,400 in 2018/19, the proportion of BAME starts increased from 12.5% in 2018/19 to 14.3% in 2020/21.
Create your own tables
You can create your own tables in the table builder using the learner characteristics data. The following tables offer a range of useful breakdowns for 2015/16 to 2020/21 reported to date.
Starts supported by ASA levy funds represent 63.9% (205,300). Please see About these statistics for more information about ASA levy funds.
Intermediate (Level 2) and advanced (Level 3) apprenticeships together make up over two-thirds of starts (26.2% intermediate and 43.1% advanced – 222,600 starts in total).
Higher (Level 4 and above) starts represent 30.7% (98,800) and those at Level 6 and above represent 12.2% (39,200).
Science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects represent 24.3% (78,100)
Apprenticeship standards are 98.7% of starts. Note: In 2020/21 there were a small number of starts on frameworks. All remaining apprenticeship frameworks were withdrawn to new learners on 31 July 2020. Learners who started on frameworks are where it has been agreed a learner can return to a previous framework they have been on after an extensive break.
Apprenticeship achievements
Out of 156,500 apprenticeship achievements in 2020/21:
Intermediate (Level 2) and advanced (Level 3) apprenticeships together make up over 80% of all achievements (34.1% intermediate and 46.4% advanced – 126,000 achievements in total).
Science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects represent 27.9% (43,700).
Business, admin and law related subjects continue to have the highest volume of achievements (47,700), accounting for 30.5%
Sector Subject Areas
Health, Public Services and Care is now the most popular sector subject area, accounting for 30.3% of starts (97,500) in 2020/21. Last year it represented 25.5% of starts.
This is closely followed by Business, Administration and Law-related subjects, which accounted for 29.8% of starts (95,900) in 2020/21. In 2019/20 this was the most popular sector subject area with 29.3% of starts.
Apprenticeship Standards
Starts on standards account for 98.7% of all starts in 2020/21. In 2020/21 there are a small number of starts on frameworks where it has been agreed a learner can return to a previous framework they have been on.
Level 6 and above
The 39,200 Level 6 and above starts (12.2% of all starts in 2020/21) are an increase from the 30,500 starts at Level 6 and above in 2019/20 (9.4% of all starts).
Create your own tables
You can create your own tables in the table builder using the subjects and levels data. The following tables offer a range of useful breakdowns for 2015/16 to 2020/21 reported to date.
Filters: Standard/framework name, Sector Subject Area (tier 1), Detailed level and Learner characteristics
For best performance due to the filesize, please download the ‘Subjects and levels - standards and frameworks’ file from the Explore data and files section.
Filters: Levy supported flag, Age group, Under 19/19+ flag, Apprenticeship level, Gender and LLDD
Interactive data visualisation tool
A new experimental data tool has been developed to complement the apprenticeship and traineeship release in EES.
This new approach allows a more visual, interactive exploration of geographical data with a number of different views and ‘drilldown’ capability to allow users to investigate apprenticeship provision within different geographical areas and across providers.
Locations: Local Enterprise Partnership and English Devolved Area
Indicators: Starts and Achievements
Filters: Apprenticeship level, Sector Subject Area (tier 1),Age group, Ethnicity Group and Gender
Starts since May 2010 and May 2015
Additional tables showing parliamentary constituency, local authority and regional breakdowns of total apprenticeship starts since May 2010 and May 2015 can be found via the ‘View data and files’ link at the top of this publication (see 'Supporting tables - Apprenticeship starts since may 2010 and 2015 by region, local authority and pcon').
Interactive data visualisation tool
A new experimental data tool has been developed to complement the apprenticeship and traineeship release in EES.
This new approach allows a more visual, interactive exploration of geographical data with a number of different views and ‘drilldown’ capability to allow users to investigate apprenticeship provision within different geographical areas and across providers.
Private Sector Public Funded providers were responsible for 64.4% (206,900)
General FE colleges account for 18.5% (59,500) and other public funded (i.e. LAs and HE) providers a further 16.3% (52,400).
Schools, Sixth Form Colleges, and Special Colleges make up 0.8% of starts.
Of the 206,900 apprenticeship starts from Private Sector Public Funded, 46.7% are at the Advanced level, 25.0% are at the Intermediate level, whilst the remaining 28.3% are at the Higher level.
Create your own tables
You can create your own tables in the table builder using the provider data. The following table offer a range of useful breakdowns for 2015/16 to 2020/21.
A new experimental data tool has been developed to complement the apprenticeship and traineeship release in EES.
This new approach allows a more visual, interactive exploration of geographical data with a number of different views and ‘drilldown’ capability to allow users to investigate apprenticeship provision within different geographical areas and across providers.
The following statistics are classified as official statistics and have been produced in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, rather than being classed as national statistics and approved as such by the United Kingdom Statistics Authority.
The latest figures in this section relate to the 2020-21 reporting period and were first published in November 2021. The 2020-21 reporting period includes times of national lockdown during the covid-19 pandemic.
The public sector apprenticeship target
Public sector bodies in England with 250 or more staff have a target to employ an average of at least 2.3% of their staff as new apprentice starts over the period 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2021.
For further information about the scope of the target, and how it is measured, please see the statutory guidance.
The data returns made by public sector bodies are available via the ‘Explore data and files’ section at the top of the release (see ‘underlying data - public sector target organisations’).
The target will also now apply to the period April 2021 to March 2022, however this will be a one-year stand-alone target. The scope and the target will remain the same. For more information, please see Meeting the public sector apprenticeship target 2021-22
Figures supplied by public sector bodies (up to and including 17 November 2021) suggest that in the four years of the target (period covering 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2021):
An average of 1.7% of employees started an apprenticeship.
A combined total of over 220 thousand apprenticeship starts have been reported [1].
Apprentices are becoming increasingly popular in the public sector workforce. The percentage of employees who were apprentices rose from 2.9% to 3.4% in the latest 2020-21 period.
Apprenticeship starts by new and existing employees are around one-tenth the volume of all employment starts in the public sector (13.0% in 2020-21).
[1]: Different samples and coverage of the collections mean that the number of starts is not directly comparable in each reporting year.
Sub-sectors
There is variation in the recruitment of apprentices in different parts of the public sector. Over the four years of the target:
The armed forces were by far the largest employer of apprentices with an average of 7.9% of employees starting an apprenticeship since April 2017.
Fire Authorities and the Civil Service, both at 1.8% are just ahead of the national four-year average of 1.7%.
Schools have the lowest rate of apprenticeship recruitment averaging at 1.0% since April 2018.
The Cabinet Office publish additional breakdowns of the Civil Service by each Department. The latest figures are published here.
School returns
State funded schools employing more than 250 staff and not maintained by a Local Authority (e.g. academies and academy trusts) came into scope of the public sector target from 31 March 2018.
Data from schools that have made at least one return in 2018-19, 2019-20 or 2020-21 show:
1.0% of employees have started an apprenticeship since 1 April 2018 and 0.7% of all staff employed were apprentices on 31 March 2018, rising to 1.4% on 31 March 2021.
These data do not include schools where the local authority is the employer.
Wider schools estimate
It is not possible to report against the target for schools as a group. Instead, the number of apprenticeship starts in schools employing over 250 staff has been estimated using the ILR and school employment data.
To calculate a schools estimate, Apprenticeship starts have been linked to Apprenticeship Service Account (ASA) names and cross-referenced with ‘Get information about schools’, a register of schools and colleges in England (https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/) to produce a mapping of school and academy trust accounts. In addition, employer information has also been linked in to allow starts in local authority schools to be separated out from the linked ASA.
There were approximately 6,400 apprenticeship starts in schools between April 2020 and March 2021.
Traineeships are designed to be a stepping-stone to either an apprenticeship, or other work. They were introduced in the 2013/14 academic year to equip young people with work preparation/experience, English and maths. Young people aged up to and including 24 are eligible for traineeships.
The latest information on traineeship incentive payments can be found in the ‘Additional analysis’ section. We have also for the first time published a table showing traineeship starts by provider. This can be found in the ‘Provider’ section.
Traineeship starts
There were 17,400 traineeship starts recorded in 2020/21 – an increase of 43.5% from 2019/20.
Of these 17,400 starts:
Trainees aged under 19 accounted for 56.7% (9,900)
Females accounted for 40.7% (7,100)
Black, Asian, and other ethnic minorities (BAME) represented 36.0% (6,200)
Learners declaring a learning difficulty and/or disability (LLDD) accounted for 22.0% (3,800)
Completion rates and conversion into apprenticeship starts
Completion rates
Of the 12,100 traineeships started in the 2019/20 academic year:
the completion rate was 76.9% - a fall of 3.5 percentage points on the rate for those started in 2018/19 and an increase on the provisional rate of 74.9% published in March 2021
the number completed under flexible arrangements (with a duration of greater than 6 months) was 400 (representing 4.8% of completions)
Of the 17,400 starts in 2020/21:
the provisional number completed under flexible arrangements (with a duration greater than 6 months) and reported so far was 1,400 – over three-times as many as the previous year.
8,900 were started in the first two quarters of 2020/21 and have a provisional completion rate of 79.6%.
Note: Some completions arising from 2020/21 traineeship starts will not be picked up until the 2021/22 academic year. Final figures will not be confirmed until November 2022.
Conversion into apprenticeship starts
Of the 12,100 traineeships started in the 2019/20 academic year:
the proportion that led to an apprenticeship start before the end of 2020/21 was 18.8% - 7.2 percentage points lower than the previous year. This figure will be revised – see note below
Note: the conversion measure counts the first apprenticeship starts that occurs within a year (four ILR quarters) of the traineeship start. For any traineeship completion where the duration of the traineeship was greater than 6 months, an additional 6-month period has been allowed to register an apprenticeship start. As such, the latest conversion rate will be revised in future releases to include any further qualifying apprenticeship starts during 2021/22.
National Achievement Rate Tables (NARTs) provide an aggregation of the individual provider-level Qualification Achievement Rates (QARs) to show learners and employers the relative quality of provision. NARTs also provide stakeholders and the general public with access to QAR data and allow providers to benchmark their provision against other providers. In March 2020 DfE announced that the summer 2020 exam series in England would be cancelled to help fight the spread of COVID-19. This announcement also stated that Government will not publish any provider level performance data for the 2019/20 academic year, nor would it hold providers to account using this data. Further details can be found here.
In publishing the 2019/20 NARTs in March 2021 the release did not contain any provider level data, including provider type. The release only covered high level national aggregations which are made available for transparency purposes only.
Users should use the last full NARTs published for 2018/19 for provider level data published in this link.
In line with the DfE approach to provider performance data during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, provider level achievement data for 2019/20 was not published. This will also apply for the March 2022 publication for the 2020/21 QARs due for publication on 31 March 2022.
UPDATE 31st March 2022: Error corrected in apprenticeship achievement rates for 2019/20
Revised achievement rates for 2019/20, originally published in March 2021, are now available in the latest release. Click here to access.
Education and Training achievement rate statistics are available here.
Provider level data
In March 2020 DfE announced that the summer 2020 exam series in England would be cancelled to help fight the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19). This announcement also stated that Government will not publish any school, college, or provider level educational performance data based on tests, assessments or exams for the 2019/20 academic year.
As a consequence of the disruption to the assessment process the government announced a change to its accountability arrangements published here where it states schools, colleges, and training providers will not be held to account on the basis of exams and assessment data from summer 2020. The revised 2019/20 data will not be published at provider level.
For performance management purposes users should refer to data from 2018/19 which can be found here.
Headline facts and figures - 2017/18 to 2018/19
The overall apprenticeship achievement rate has seen a decrease of 2.3 percentage points between 2017/18 and 2018/19.
Changes in achievement rates are dependent on a combination of retention rates and pass rates. Pass rates have fallen by 0.4 percentage points between 2017/18 and 2018/19 whilst retention rates have fallen by 2.0 percentage points.
The apprenticeship achievement rate measure is additionally reliant on the persons continued employment and in some sectors there is higher churn so caution should be used interpreting simple averages because changes in provision mix across sectors will lead to change in overall averages.
Apprenticeships overall achievement rates by sector subject area
The mix of achievement rates across each sector subject area can be found to vary which can affect the national average, where figures could be found to be misleading.
Arts, Media and Publishing has shown the largest percentage point increase in achievement rate (+7.5) between 2017/18 and 2018/19, followed by Leisure, Travel and Tourism (+1.4).
Retail and Commercial Enterprise has shown the largest decrease (-8.1) with Business, Administration and Law having the next largest decrease (-4.0).
Overall achievement rates by ethnicity
The figures in this section cover the achievement rates for those learners who are from a Black, Asian, or minority ethnic (BAME) background.
Apprenticeship overall achievement rates by ethnicity
Overall Apprenticeship rates
2017/18
2018/19
Classified as BAME
65.8%
61.5%
Classified as other than BAME
67.3%
65.3%
In 2018/19, learners who were classified as BAME had an overall apprenticeship achievement rate of 61.5% a decrease of 4.3 percentage points from 65.8% in 2017/18.
As is the case when looking into other learner attributes the variation in achievement rates for BAME is mainly driven by the mix of sector subject areas being undertaken. For 2018/19 this is driven by a large cohort volume of 12,400 for the Health, Public Services and Care sector (16.2% of all learners were BAME) and 9,000 for the Business, Administration and Law sector (11.8% of all learners were BAME) with overall achievement rates of 65.7% and 55.3% respectively. By comparison, only 6.0% of learners in the Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies sector were BAME.
The sector with the highest achievement rate for BAME learners was Leisure, Travel and Tourism with 73.8%, which is 12.3 percentage points higher than the national average for BAME. The lowest achievement rate for BAME learners was for the Science and Mathematics sector with 52.4%, which is 9.1 percentage points lower than the national average for BAME.
Apprenticeship overall achievement rates by detailed level
Methodology
Qualification Achievement Rates (QARs) are calculated for individual apprenticeship programmes. They show how many learners that started a qualification or programme went on to successfully achieve it. Achievement rates are typically calculated at a qualification or programme level, but can be aggregated across different types of course, or for particular colleges or providers.
Technical specifications for how achievement rates are calculated can be found here. Further information on how the performance management process works can be found here.
Create your own tables
You can create your own tables in the table builder using the achievement rates data. The following tables offer a range of useful breakdowns for 2018/19.
Apprenticeship Service and monthly transparency data
This section contains information on the Apprenticeship Service, along with monthly breakdowns of apprenticeship starts. The most up-to-date information can also be found here and are made available for transparency purposes.
Monthly apprenticeship starts (as published in November 2021)
As of May 2017, significant structural changes were made to the apprenticeship funding system including the introduction of the levy and the apprenticeship service. Additionally, the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has impacted on levels and reporting behaviour.
The 321,400 starts reported for the 2020/21 full academic year are slightly lower (down 0.3%) than the 322,500 reported at the same point the previous year. The 21,300 starts in July 2021 are 7.2% higher than the 19,800 reported at this point last year for July 2020 (although starts in July 2020 were impacted by coronavirus restrictions), but are 23.7% lower than the 27,800 starts reported for July 2019 (before coronavirus restrictions were introduced).
Please note: the first in-year apprenticeship starts data for the 2021/22 academic year will be published in January 2022 and will cover August to October 2021.
Further breakdowns of monthly apprenticeship starts (including the latest 2020/21 monthly figures in the above table) by level, age, sector subject area, framework/standard name, start month and degree apprenticeship flag are available in underlying data via the ‘view data and files’ link at the top of the publication (see ‘Underlying data - apprenticeship monthly starts’).
Apprenticeship service statistics (UPDATED 22 DECEMBER 2021)
The following statistics are classified as official statistics and have been produced in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, rather than being classed as national statistics and approved as such by the United Kingdom Statistics Authority.
This analysis has been included to provide transparency with regards to the apprenticeship service, an online service implemented in May 2017 that allows employers to choose and pay for apprenticeship training more easily, and its usage.
Apprenticeship service commitments (UPDATED 22 DECEMBER 2021)
As of 08 December 2021, the number of commitments reported to date associated with the apprenticeship service accounts of levy-paying organisations with training start dates in the first four months (August to November 2021) of the 2021/22 academic year was 96,630 (91,310 fully agreed). This compares with 68,480, reported to date for the first four months of the 2020/21 academic year (67,840 fully agreed).
Total commitments reported to date for the month of November 2021 associated with levy-paying organisations are 15,450.
The number of commitments reported to date associated with the apprenticeship service accounts of non-levy-paying organisations with training start dates in the first four months (August to November) of the 2021/22 academic year was 76,960 (63,010 fully agreed).
So far there have been 179,270 total commitments reported with training start dates in the 2021/22 academic year (August to July). Of which:
Commitments associated with the apprenticeship service accounts of levy-paying organisations represented 55.0% (98,540 commitments of which 91,950 fully agreed).
Commitments associated with the apprenticeship service accounts of non-levy-paying organisations represented 45.0% (80,730 commitments of which 63,860 fully agreed).
Of the 179,270 commitments with training start dates in the 2021/22 academic year, (including commitments from the apprenticeship service accounts of both levy and non-levy organisations):
learners aged 25+ numbered 65,600, those learners aged 19-24 were 54,460, whilst those for learners aged under 19 were 55,940.
advanced apprenticeships numbered 78,930, intermediate apprenticeships were 50,870 and higher apprenticeships were 49,210.
Commitments may be recorded or revised on the Apprenticeship Service system after the training start date has passed. Data for recent months (i.e. October and November 2021) should be treated as highly provisional and will be subject to further revision as more commitments are recorded on the apprenticeship service system. Additionally, data for previous academic years will be revised as details are updated by employers on the apprenticeship service.
Comparable commitments data to last year are not available as on 9 January 2020 the Apprenticeship service was extended to all employers that do not pay the levy to register and reserve funds. Prior to January 2020 it was only possible for non-levy organisations to set up apprenticeship service accounts and have commitments in order to utilise levy transfers, whilst a limited number of non-levy organisations registered accounts as part of testing in preparation for the extension of the service to all employers.
From 1 April 2021, all new apprenticeship starts at both levy-paying and non-levy paying organisations are via the apprenticeship service.
Comparisons between academic years will be misleading as commitments may be recorded/revised on the apprenticeship system after the training start date has passed. This means all data should be treated as provisional.
Create your own tables
You can create your own tables in the table builder using the commitments data. The following table offers useful breakdowns for the total number of commitments as at 08 December 2021.
Filters: Age group, Start month, Apprenticeship level , Latest levy status, Start academic year, Payment status and Transfer flag
Apprenticeship service account registrations (UPDATED 22 DECEMBER 2021)
As at 08 December 2021, the number of registered Apprenticeship Service Accounts (ASAs) was 127,400. Levy-paying organisations had 20,400 accounts and non-levy organisations had 107,000 accounts.
Note:
The levy-paying status of an account is based on the latest information held and therefore may subsequently change.
Accounts with limited functionality are excluded from these figures as they cannot be used for funding purposes. Limited functionality accounts can subsequently be upgraded to full functionality, for instance when a levy-paying organisation registers their Pay As You Earn (PAYE) account number and legal entity. In these cases, the fully functional account will retain the original registration date.
There is no direct relationship between apprenticeship service accounts and employers. An employer may have more than one apprenticeship service account, whilst accounts set up by levy-paying employers can be associated with more than one PAYE scheme.
Prior to 09 January 2020 it was possible for employers that do not pay the levy to set up apprenticeship service accounts. For instance, in order to utilise apprenticeship levy transfers. Additionally, some employers registered accounts as part of testing in preparation for the extension of the service to all employers that do not pay the levy.
Organisations can create accounts at any point, and these are reported here. Not all accounts will be active in terms of funding apprenticeships.
Apprenticeship service reservations (UPDATED 22 DECEMBER 2021)
From 09 January 2020 the apprenticeship service was extended for all non-levy paying employers to register and use. Employers who do not pay the apprenticeship levy are able to make a funding ‘reservation’ (or have a funding ‘reservation’ made on their behalf) with respect to an apprenticeship planned to start in the following 3 months. From 01 April 2021 this was extended to six months. This reservation is in advance of recruitment or an offer of an apprenticeship being made to an existing employee. This reservation ensures that employers can plan, and that funds will be available to pay for the training from the point the apprenticeship starts. Training providers can ‘support’ this by making reservations on behalf of non-levy employers. Additionally, providers with reservations that have progressed to a ‘commitment’ (with a training provider assigned) are counted as supporting.
As of 08 December, there have been 89,680 reservations made so far in the 2021/22 academic year, of which 2,430 have been subsequently deleted and 8,680 expired.
By 49,300 non-levy paying apprenticeship service accounts.
Supported by 850 providers.
For the previous academic year (2020/21), there were 141,620 reservations, of which 5,200 were subsequently deleted and 30,640 expired.
By 62,310 non-levy paying apprenticeship service accounts.
Supported by 940 providers.
Note:
The reservations and their associated information are based on information obtained from the apprenticeship service as of 08 December 2021.
Deleted reservations are those that have been actively withdrawn by the account holder, whilst expired reservations are those that have not turned into a commitment within 3 months of the apprenticeship start date detailed within the reservation.
Apprenticeship service transfers (UPDATED 22 DECEMBER 2021)
In April 2018 it became possible for levy-paying organisations to transfer up to 10 per cent of the annual value of funds entering their apprenticeship service account to other organisations via the apprenticeship service. This increased to 25 per cent from April 2019.
Since our June update we have slightly amended the definition we have previously used for pending transfers to only include those with a known transfer status of ‘pending’ or ‘approved’ and excluding the small number of commitments where we don’t currently know the status (a small number may ultimately be rejected). This removed approximately 350 commitments from the total of pending transfers in 2020/21.
As of 08 December 2021, there have been 2,860 apprenticeship service commitments entered into the apprenticeship service with training start dates in the 2021/22 academic year, where the transfer of funds between ASAs has been approved. A further 130 commitments were pending approval for the transfer of funds.
Of these 2,860 transferred commitments, 38.3% (1,090) were transfers to levy-paying organisations and 61.7% (1,760) were transfers to non-levy-paying organisations.
In the previous academic year (2020/21) there were 7,060 apprenticeship service commitments entered into the apprenticeship service, where the transfer of funds between ASAs was approved. A further 60 commitments were pending approval for the transfer of funds.
Of these 7,060 transferred commitments, 33.9% (2,400) were transfers to levy-paying organisations and 66.1% (4,670) were transfers to non-levy-paying organisations.
As of 08 December 2021:
the number of fully agreed transferred commitments that have so far been recorded as apprenticeship starts on the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) in the 2020/21 academic year was 6,460.
Please note that providers may not record learners immediately on the ILR, so a lag may occur between a commitment being recorded in the apprenticeship service and the corresponding commitment being recorded as a start on the ILR.
Additionally, as commitments can be recorded/amended on the apprenticeship service system after the transfer approval date has passed, all data should be treated as provisional. Data is only fully captured when providers confirm details in the ILR. In the interests of transparency, what is known at this point of reporting has been included where possible.
The following statistics are classified as official statistics and have been produced in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, rather than being classed as national statistics and approved as such by the United Kingdom Statistics Authority.
This analysis has been included to provide wider contextual information on the apprenticeship programme as a whole.
Apprenticeship incentive payments (UPDATED 22 DECEMBER 2021)
The government introduced new incentive payments in August 2020 to support employers in creating new apprenticeship opportunities. Employers are eligible to apply for this incentive for each apprentice they hire as a new employee to their organisation.
Employers who hired new apprentices between 01 August 2020 and 31 March 2021 were eligible for £2,000 for new apprentices aged 16 to 24 or £1,500 for apprentices aged 25 and over. In March 2021, the Chancellor announced an increase to the incentive payment, with employers eligible for £3000 for each apprentice, of any age, they hire as a new employee between 01 April and 30 September 2021. The closing date for incentive claims for this initial scheme extension was 30 November 2021.
In October 2021, the Chancellor announced a further extension of the incentive payment programme to 31 January 2022. Applications for these latest payments open on 11 January 2022.
The incentive is paid in two equal payments. Employers will be eligible for 50% of the incentive payment 90 days after the apprentice starts in training, with the remaining amount paid once the apprentice has completed 365 days of training.
As of 08 December 2021, the number of apprentices recorded on the Apprenticeship Service for whom incentive claims have been submitted by employers totalled 161,810:
The number of apprenticeship service accounts who made the submissions for incentive payments was 54,470.
The proportion of the submissions for those aged between 16 and 24, and 25 or over are 78% and 22% respectively (Table 1).
The proportions by apprenticeship level (Table 2):
Intermediate (level 2) accounted for 37%.
Advanced (level 3) accounted for 46%.
Higher (level 4+) accounted for 17%.
Incentives by sector subject area (Table 3):
The three largest sector subject areas were:
Health, Public Services and Care, which accounted for 23%.
Business, Administration and Law, which accounted for 20%.
Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies, which accounted for 19%.
Table 1: Planned starts on the apprenticeship incentive scheme by month and age as of 08 December 2021
Month
16-24
25+
All
Aug-20
1,820
600
2,420
Sep-20
12,530
2,410
14,940
Oct-20
9,390
1,860
11,250
Nov-20
7,940
2,030
9,970
Dec-20
3,790
1,160
4,950
Jan-21
7,800
3,270
11,080
Feb-21
5,070
2,230
7,300
Mar-21
5,770
3,010
8,780
Apr-21
4,750
1,920
6,660
May-21
4,690
2,100
6,790
Jun-21
5,000
2,110
7,110
Jul-21
5,940
1,800
7,740
Aug-21
6,630
1,950
8,580
Sep-21
33,060
6,110
39,170
Oct-21
7,170
1,630
8,800
Nov-21
4,810
1,450
6,270
Total
126,160
35,650
161,810
Table 2: Planned starts on the apprenticeship incentive scheme by month and level as of 08 December 2021
Month
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
Level 5
Level 6
Level 7
All
Aug-20
970
1,060
140
30
170
70
2,420
Sep-20
4,390
6,540
990
260
1,520
1,250
14,940
Oct-20
4,190
5,170
830
170
670
230
11,250
Nov-20
4,150
4,740
470
60
410
150
9,970
Dec-20
2,140
2,360
220
60
70
100
4,950
Jan-21
3,770
5,050
670
160
1,060
370
11,080
Feb-21
2,880
3,340
440
140
420
90
7,300
Mar-21
3,400
3,830
580
200
630
140
8,780
Apr-21
2,930
2,940
350
110
270
60
6,660
May-21
2,740
3,070
340
110
420
120
6,790
Jun-21
2,960
3,190
400
90
430
60
7,110
Jul-21
3,150
3,720
380
80
360
60
7,740
Aug-21
3,420
3,900
450
80
470
240
8,580
Sep-21
12,790
18,990
2,270
470
2,800
1,850
39,170
Oct-21
3,240
3,920
710
170
490
260
8,800
Nov-21
2,430
2,780
500
160
70
310
6,270
Total
59,530
74,580
9,730
2,340
10,280
5,350
161,810
Table 3: Planned starts on the apprenticeship incentive scheme by sector subject area as of 08 December 2021
Sector subject area
Incentives
Agriculture, Horticulture and Animal Care
4,130
Arts, Media and Publishing
1,460
Business, Administration and Law
32,710
Construction, Planning and the Built Environment
20,210
Education and Training
4,450
Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies
31,440
Health, Public Services and Care
38,010
History, Philosophy and Theology
~
Information and Communication Technology
9,810
Leisure, Travel and Tourism
2,970
Retail and Commercial Enterprise
16,430
Science and Mathematics
90
Social Sciences
90
Total
161,810
Please note: Incentive claims shown here include only those that are active in the system at the point of reporting. Some incentive claims may subsequently be withdrawn after an application is submitted, for instance by the employer, and these are not included in the totals here.
Traineeships incentive payments (AS PUBLISHED IN NOVEMBER 2021)
The government introduced a new incentive payment in September 2020 to support employers who host a work placement experience as part of the Traineeship programme from 1st September 2020 up to 31st July 2022. Employers are eligible to apply for this incentive if the work placement lasts a minimum of 70 hours and is delivered, as a minimum, over a 10-working day duration. The incentive payment can be claimed using an online claim form and can only be claimed once the work placement has been completed and eligibility has been confirmed by the training provider.
Employers can claim £1,000 for each placement that is hosted; this is capped at 10 placements per region across the 9 English regions in any one academic year.
As of 15 November 2021, for incentive payments made up to 10 November 2021:
The number of traineeship incentives paid has been 2,330.
The number of unique organisations receiving a payment has been 1,130.
The number of unique learners who have received an incentive payment for an employer has been 2,290.
Note that one learner can generate more than one payment if they attend more than one placement at one or more employers, each employer will then be able to claim a £1000 payment.
Traineeship incentive payments by local authority district (AS PUBLISHED IN NOVEMBER 2021)
The ‘traineeship-incentive-payments-by-2021-november’ CSV file in the ‘explore data and files’ section provides breakdowns of the numbers above based on the local authority district (LAD) of the learner’s home postcode for whom an employer has received a payment.
As stated above there have been 1,131 unique organisations who have received an incentive payment. In the LAD CSV file ‘the number of organisations receiving an incentive payment’ column sums to more than the unique count of organisations above. This is because the number of organisations paid in each LAD is a distinct count of organisations who have been paid due to hosting a placement for a learner living in that LAD.
A single organisation may have received payment for learners in more than one LAD so may be included in the organisation count of more than one LAD in the CSV file but is only counted once in the total unique number of organisations receiving a payment (the 1,131 above).
Employers reporting the withdrawal of apprentices due to redundancy during COVID (UPDATED 22 DECEMBER 2021)
From 30 July 2020, employers have been able to record on the Apprenticeship Service (AS) if an apprenticeship has ended due to a redundancy. This will provide more accurate and timely data on redundancies than that captured via the ‘withdrawal reason’ on the ILR, and will be a reliable ongoing source of data.
This data does not capture all apprenticeships, as prior to 01 April 2021 not all non-levy employers were using the AS. From 01 April 2021 all new starts are reported and managed through the AS. Additionally, employers can record information about redundancies at a later date on the AS, therefore the information can suffer from ‘data lag’ with information being recorded weeks or months after the redundancy actually happened.
As of 08 December 2021, the number of apprenticeship redundancies reported so far from August 2020 was 5,280, of which:
The proportions by apprenticeship level were (Table 4):
Intermediate (level 2): 26%
Advanced (level 3): 48%
Higher (level 4+): 27%
The proportion by age group was (Table 5):
Under 19: 28%
19-24: 29%
25 and over: 43%
Levy paying organisations accounted for 66%
In addition to the 5,280 redundancies, a further 1,570 redundancies were reported in 2020 prior to August, i.e. the new reporting feature has captured some delayed reporting prior to August. As it was not possible for an employer to provide redundancy as a reason for an apprenticeship ending prior to 30th July, data for months before August 2020 are underrepresented and an overall figure has been included for transparency only.
Table 4: Apprenticeship redundancies by redundancy month and level as of 08 December 2021
Month
Apprenticeship level
Month total
Intermediate
Advanced
Higher
Aug-20
130
540
180
850
Sep-20
150
320
140
610
Oct-20
130
250
140
520
Nov-20
80
180
90
350
Dec-20
90
140
160
380
Jan-21
70
170
260
490
Feb-21
60
80
40
180
Mar-21
70
130
60
270
Apr-21
90
120
60
260
May-21
80
90
40
200
Jun-21
70
100
70
240
Jul-21
90
100
40
230
Aug-21
80
100
40
220
Sep-21
80
110
30
230
Oct-21
60
60
30
140
Nov-21
50
50
20
120
Total
1,370
2,510
1,400
5,280
Table 5: Apprenticeship redundancies by redundancy month and age as of 08 December 2021
Apprenticeship adverts and vacancies (UPDATED 22 DECEMBER 2021)
The apprenticeship adverts and vacancies in this section are as published on the Find An Apprenticeship (FAA) website. They represent only a subset of the total number of vacancies available across the marketplace, as many apprenticeships are not advertised through this website.
Adverts and vacancy data have historically been reported from the V1 vacancies database of the FAA service, which was designed before the Apprenticeship levy and the creation of the digital Apprenticeship Service, for use by Training Providers providing recruitment services to Employers.
We are now able to also incorporate data from the V2 vacancies database of the FAA service. This entered service in 2018 and is designed to enable Employers to manage their own Apprentice recruitment through their account with the digital Apprenticeship Service.
From the May 2021 statistics publication, published data covered all adverts and vacancies from the two systems supporting the Find an Apprenticeships service. Historical figures were retrospectively updated to include this additional data.
There were 11,510 adverts containing 19,770 vacancies advertised on Find An Apprenticeship in November 2021. These are more than double the corresponding adverts and vacancies reported in November 2020 (5,250 and 8,260 respectively). However, it must be noted that 2020 was affected by coronavirus restrictions.
Create your own tables
You can create your own tables in the table builder using the find an apprenticeship adverts and vacancies data. The following table offers useful breakdowns from August 2018 to November 2021.
In our November release we published an underlying file ‘Underlying data – apprenticeship vacancies’ in the ‘explore data and files’ section, which contained more information about the vacancies published on Find an apprenticeship. The current file covers vacancies from August 2018 to October 2021. This file will be updated alongside our quarterly releases, the next update being in January 2022.
Search for apprenticeship training by job role or keyword
Find training providers who offer the apprenticeship training you choose
Find a named training provider you want to use
Skills Tool Kit (Experimental Statistics) (UPDATED 22 DECEMBER 2021)
The Skills Toolkit was launched on 28 April 2020 to help people build their skills during the coronavirus outbreak and beyond.
As of 28 November 2021, there have been over 2.9 million (2,944,100) total page views on the skills toolkit website. This data is reported as a part of systems monitoring. Some users might access the page from more than one device and, if so, will be counted more than once in the figures.
As of 28 November, there have been an estimated 241,700 course registrations and 48,600 course completions.
Please note:
These are experimental statistics and rely on website analytics and the method of processing these is subject to change and provide an indication of the engagement with the Skills Toolkit website and campaign, designed to encourage users to access free online learning resources during the COVID-19 pandemic to build new skills or get a new job. These statistics are being provided for transparency purposes and there are data limitations users need to consider around provider reporting and collection approach, which will result in an incomplete picture of all learning activity resulting from the Toolkit website.
In this update, four providers (Cisco, AWS, Google, Open University) were unable to provide a complete data return for the latest period. Additionally, six courses will no longer receive further registrations or completion data (four FutureLearn and two Good Things Foundation), whilst nine FutureLearn courses are no longer included in the Skills Toolkit listing.
In the March 2021 update, the provider Corndel amended the methodology they used to improve their count of users and updated historic figures for the period covering September to December 2020, reducing the number of registrations for that period by 1,077.
In the November 2021 release we updated the course registrations and completions downloadable csv file, which also contains provider/course breakdowns (please see ‘Skills toolkit course registrations and completions as at 08-11-2021’ in ‘View data and files’). This downloadable file excludes provider data where this had not been validated by the time of reporting. This detailed csv file will be updated alongside the main quarterly releases, whereas total figures for registrations and completions are provided monthly.
The Skills Toolkit webpages are hosted on gov.uk and the National Careers Service website. Course registration is undertaken on course provider websites. Course providers supply data to the DfE for learners registering on their courses where they are satisfied they have done so through the Toolkit website. DfE do not receive data from course providers on the country the learner accessed the course from, but we expect this to be the UK in most cases.
Course providers collect data on registrations and completions to their courses through various methods and separately submit returns to the Department for Education relating to The Skills Toolkit. These returns are then assessed and aggregated. Estimates are provisional as there may be a lag in data reporting.
All providers are asked to outline their methods of reporting and explain why they are confident that the figures they provide represent an accurate view of the number of course registrations they have received, as a result of The Skills Toolkit. Course providers outline their method of reporting to the DfE after being given a clear mandate to ensure that they are accurate to the best of their knowledge and understanding, and are asked to report a change in their methods of reporting or any errors/issues they encounter as quickly as possible. Provider reports are then checked for unusual patterns.
Some providers may be unable to identify if course registrations resulted from ‘The Skills Toolkit’ campaign or other means. The numbers provided only include data which, are deemed robust enough for including at this stage, so may not including some genuine registrations and is likely to represent an undercount of the true number.
Course completions data are provided by providers in the same way registrations are and are subject to the same caveats. Additionally, not all providers are able to accurately report course completions, either because of the course format, e.g. downloadable content, videos etc, or because of technical issues to enable reporting, so, those data are not included in reporting and are denoted with 'N/A' in the underlying file. Further to this, how providers record completions and define what a completion is can vary, and again depending upon the course format (for e.g. interactive videos, modules etc), the completion stage could be different for various course types and a ‘completion’ may simply represent that a user has accessed learning material.
Providers are requested to provide similar assurances for information (including completions) made via their data returns.
Providers are not required to adhere to a specific approach because courses are structured differently and have different content, so learners engage with them in different ways which necessitates different approaches to calculating starts and completions.
Since the July 2020 update to this release where course providers collectively reported 136,000 course registrations a month after the Toolkit was launched, some course providers have made The Skills Toolkit team aware of issues in their reporting. For example, providers have made changes to their analytics software and to the structure of their websites affecting the number of course starts they report. As a result, the number of registrations was revised down in our October release to be, as of 30 September 2020 there have been 97,615 course registrations and 1,100,260 page views.
As part of the expansion of The Skills Toolkit in September 2020, we improved the reporting and quality assurance processes. As part of this work, we have identified issues with 12 courses and have removed these from our reported number of registrations.
As a result, we are now collecting more robust estimates of registrations and completions, but we continue to work with providers on improving this further.
This new experimental data tool has been developed to complement the apprenticeship and traineeship release in EES.
This new approach offers users a more visual, interactive presentation of our published data, with a number of different views on to data and ‘drilldown’ capability to allow users to investigate different types of FE provision within different geographical areas and across providers.
Designation signifying their compliance with the authority's Code of Practice for Statistics which broadly means these statistics are:
managed impartially and objectively in the public interest
meet identified user needs
produced according to sound methods
well explained and readily accessible
Once designated as National Statistics it's a statutory requirement for statistics to follow and comply with the Code of Practice for Statistics to be observed.
