Apprenticeships
Academic year 2025/26

Description

This document describes the contents of the underlying data files accompanying the ‘Apprenticeships’ statistics publication. There is a Methodology document (https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/methodology/further-education-and-skills-statistics-methodology) that is linked under ‘Quick links’ at the top of the release that contains further information on the statistics published here.

Coverage

England

Data files

Historical series - Starts, Participation by Age, Level, SSA

Filename: app-historical-summary-to-2425.csv
Geographic levels: National
Time period: 2002/03 to 2024/25
Content summary: Historical data back to 2002/03 for apprenticeship starts by age, level and sector subject area.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name  |  Variable description
-------------  |  ----------------------------
age_summary    |  Age group
apps_level     |  Apprenticeship level
participation  |  Participation
ssa_tier_1     |  Sector subject area (tier 1)
starts         |  Starts

Footnotes:

1. Age for apprenticeship participation is based on age as at 31 August of the academic year.
2. Age for starts is based on age at the start of the programme.
3. Data prior to 2014/15 adapted from previously published Level, SSA and data framework tool (https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.publishing.service.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fuploads%2Fsystem%2Fuploads%2Fattachment_data%2Ffile%2F650226%2F201617_Oct_Apps_Level_SSA_And_Framework_Data_Tool_FINAL.xlsx&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK) for starts and apprenticeships-participation-by-level-age for participation (https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.publishing.service.gov.uk%2Fmedia%2F5a8160b2e5274a2e8ab53aa5%2Fapprenticeships-participation-by-level-age.xls&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK)- click links for detailed footnotes. Data from 2014/15 onwards extracted from ILR database. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 except for Grand Totals for starts and all data for participation prior to 2014/15, which are rounded to 100.
4. Participation at intermediate, advanced and higher levels is a count of learners that participated at those levels at any point during the year. Learners undertaking more than one course will only appear once at each level but can appear in the count at more than one level.
5. Total starts are the count of apprenticeships started at any point during the stated academic period. Learners starting more than one Apprenticeship will appear more than once.
6. Where shown, figures for 2025/26 are provisional and cover the first three quarters (Aug to April). Figures for other years are final and cover the full year (Aug to July).
