Participation in apprenticeships
Published
1. Main facts and figures
- in the 10 years to July 2023, the percentage of apprentices from Asian, black, mixed and ‘other’ ethnic backgrounds went up from 10.0% to 14.5%
- the total number of apprentices went down from 851,400 to 752,200
- the number of apprentices from Asian, black, mixed and ‘other’ backgrounds combined went up from 83,900 to 107,200
- in the year ending July 2023, white people made up 85.5% of apprentices, and 81.0% of the general population in England
2. Things you need to know
What the data measures
The data shows the number of people studying for one or more apprenticeships in each academic year (1 August to 31 July), by ethnicity.
The data only includes people funded by the government.
Apprentice numbers are rounded to the nearest 100. Percentages are calculated using rounded numbers and are rounded to 1 decimal place.
The ethnic groups used in the data
Data is shown for 5 aggregated ethnic groups:
- Asian
- black
- mixed
- white
- ‘other’
Estimates are shown for these groups as a whole. This is because the number of people in apprenticeships was too small to make any reliable conclusions about any of the 19 ethnic groups used in the 2021 Census.
The percentages by ethnicity do not include people whose ethnicity was not known. This was 1.6% of apprenticeship participants in the academic year ending July 2023.
Methodology
Read the detailed methodology document for the data on this page.
Someone studying more than one apprenticeship course with a single provider in an academic year is counted once. Someone studying with more than one provider is counted more than once.
3. By ethnicity over time
| All | Asian | Black | Mixed | White | Other | Unknown | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | All % | All Apprentices | Asian % | Asian Apprentices | Black % | Black Apprentices | Mixed % | Mixed Apprentices | White % | White Apprentices | Other % | Other Apprentices | Unknown % | Unknown Apprentices |
| 2008/09 | 100.0 | 444,700 | 3.1 | 13,700 | 1.8 | 7,800 | 1.5 | 6,400 | 93.2 | 411,000 | 0.5 | 2,000 | N/A* | 3,800 |
| 2009/10 | 100.0 | 491,200 | 3.0 | 14,400 | 2.1 | 10,000 | 1.6 | 7,900 | 92.9 | 452,700 | 0.5 | 2,300 | N/A* | 3,900 |
| 2010/11 | 100.0 | 665,900 | 3.7 | 24,500 | 2.7 | 18,000 | 1.7 | 11,400 | 91.2 | 602,400 | 0.6 | 4,100 | N/A* | 5,500 |
| 2011/12 | 100.0 | 806,500 | 4.0 | 31,600 | 3.2 | 25,500 | 1.8 | 14,300 | 90.4 | 722,800 | 0.7 | 5,500 | N/A* | 6,800 |
| 2012/13 | 100.0 | 868,700 | 3.8 | 32,800 | 3.3 | 28,500 | 1.9 | 16,200 | 90.3 | 776,200 | 0.7 | 6,000 | N/A* | 9,000 |
| 2013/14 | 100.0 | 851,400 | 4.0 | 34,000 | 3.3 | 27,400 | 2.0 | 17,000 | 90.0 | 758,400 | 0.7 | 5,500 | N/A* | 9,100 |
| 2014/15 | 100.0 | 871,700 | 4.3 | 37,000 | 3.4 | 29,500 | 2.1 | 18,300 | 89.5 | 773,400 | 0.7 | 5,900 | N/A* | 7,600 |
| 2015/16 | 100.0 | 899,400 | 4.3 | 38,400 | 3.6 | 31,500 | 2.2 | 19,100 | 89.3 | 791,700 | 0.7 | 6,200 | N/A* | 12,500 |
| 2016/17 | 100.0 | 908,700 | 4.4 | 39,300 | 3.7 | 33,000 | 2.2 | 19,700 | 89.0 | 801,200 | 0.8 | 6,900 | N/A* | 8,600 |
| 2017/18 | 100.0 | 814,900 | 4.5 | 36,200 | 3.6 | 29,000 | 2.3 | 18,400 | 88.8 | 714,000 | 0.8 | 6,600 | N/A* | 10,700 |
| 2018/19 | 100.0 | 742,400 | 5.0 | 36,700 | 3.5 | 25,300 | 2.5 | 18,600 | 88.2 | 645,700 | 0.8 | 5,600 | N/A* | 10,500 |
| 2019/20 | 100.0 | 718,900 | 5.5 | 38,600 | 3.6 | 25,200 | 2.6 | 18,700 | 87.5 | 618,700 | 0.8 | 5,800 | N/A* | 11,900 |
| 2020/21 | 100.0 | 713,100 | 5.8 | 40,700 | 3.8 | 26,800 | 2.8 | 19,600 | 86.7 | 606,600 | 0.8 | 5,900 | N/A* | 13,500 |
| 2022/23 | 100.0 | 752,200 | 6.5 | 47,800 | 3.9 | 29,200 | 3.2 | 23,700 | 85.5 | 632,900 | 0.9 | 6,500 | NA | 12,100 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV)
Summary of Participation in apprenticeships By ethnicity over time Summary
The data shows that, in the 10 years to July 2023:
- the total number of apprentices went down from 851,400 to 752,200
- the percentage of apprentices who were Asian went up from 4.0% to 6.5% – the number went up from 34,000 to 47,800
- the percentage who were from mixed ethnic backgrounds went up from 2.0% to 3.2% – the number went up from 17,000 to 23,700
- the percentage who were white went down from 90.0% to 85.5% – the number went down from 758,400 to 632,900
In the year ending in July 2023:
- the percentage of apprentices who were from the Asian and mixed ethnic groups went up compared with the previous year
- the percentage of apprentices who were from the black and ‘other’ ethnic groups was roughly the same as the previous year
4. By ethnicity compared with the overall population
| Apprentices | Population (2021 Census) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | Apprentices % | Apprentices Numerator | Population (2021 Census) % | Population (2021 Census) Numerator |
| All | 100.0 | 752,200 | 100.0 | 59,597,542 |
| Asian | 6.5 | 47,800 | 9.6 | 5,515,420 |
| Black | 3.9 | 29,200 | 4.2 | 2,409,278 |
| Mixed | 3.2 | 23,700 | 3.0 | 1,717,976 |
| White | 85.5 | 632,900 | 81.0 | 48,699,249 |
| Other | 0.9 | 6,500 | 2.2 | 1,255,619 |
| Unknown | N/A* | 12,100 | N/A* | N/A* |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity compared with the overall population’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity compared with the overall population’ (CSV)
Summary of Participation in apprenticeships By ethnicity compared with the overall population Summary
Population figures are based on data from the 2021 Census.
The data shows that, in the year ending July 2023:
- white people made up 85.5% of apprentices and 81.0% of the overall population in England
- Asian people made up 6.5% of apprentices and 9.6% of the population
- black people made up 3.9% of apprentices and 4.2% of the population
5. Data sources
Source
Apprenticeships and traineeships, academic year 2022 to 2023
Type of data
Administrative data
Type of statistic
National Statistics
Publisher
Department for Education
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
The Education and Skills Funding Agency uses data about learners' demographics and their type of learning to allocate funding. Apprentices participating on apprenticeship programme aims are included in this data.
Secondary source
Ethnic group, national identity, language, and religion: Census 2021 in England and Wales
Type of data
Survey data
Type of statistic
Official statistics
Publisher
Office for National Statistics
Publication frequency
Ad-hoc
Purpose of data source
The Census takes place every 10 years. Census data gives the government the information it needs to plan and run public services. It is also used as a benchmark for other statistical estimates, and can help illustrate differences between various groups in the population.
6. Download the data
This file contains the following variables: measure, ethnicity, ethnicity_type, time, time_type, geography, geography_code, geography type, age, denominator, numerator, value