Apprenticeship starts, England
Accredited official statistics
Apprenticeships started in England in each whole academic year since 2017/18, in all and at intermediate, advanced and higher level, from the Department for Education.
Apprenticeship starts
353,500
2024/25
Verified against source, 7 November 2026, 06:49 UTC- All starts
- Intermediate
- Advanced
- Higher
Source: Department for Education. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Data table
8 rows
| Category | All starts | Intermediate | Advanced | Higher |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017/18 | 375,760 | 161,390 | 166,220 | 48,150 |
| 2018/19 | 393,380 | 143,590 | 174,730 | 75,060 |
| 2019/20 | 322,530 | 99,220 | 140,840 | 82,460 |
| 2020/21 | 321,440 | 84,150 | 138,490 | 98,810 |
| 2021/22 | 349,190 | 91,520 | 151,310 | 106,360 |
| 2022/23 | 337,140 | 76,280 | 147,930 | 112,930 |
| 2023/24 | 339,580 | 70,840 | 146,520 | 122,230 |
| 2024/25 | 353,500 | 65,680 | 147,090 | 140,730 |
Source and licence
- Publisher
- Department for Education
- Check it yourself
- https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships
- Licence
- Open Government Licence v3.0 – Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Retrieved
- 7 November 2026, 06:44 UTC
- Raw files fetched
- https://content.explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/api/data-set-files?publicationId=412d8090-ab45-455a-c176-08dbf5ab522b&latestOnly=true&pageSize=40&page=1SHA-256 35ef280c854a3fd15f9c938f7a006012359c9e7ded1df9054479b0d44b3d32a7 · 39,908 bytes
- https://content.explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/api/data-set-files/26f76d9a-8700-4776-bbf6-9a1c963e607bSHA-256 e3689b5dcd712f3af837020ccf68bbdaebab56ce6be7287bf357a94e9be3a6fd · 6,041 bytes
- https://content.explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/api/releases/5fa09991-9ced-4ca5-b626-73b747df272d/files?fileIds=5e553962-0adf-4ab0-8ed6-08ded6bfeaadSHA-256 6c754d53f5d4a8d96dcfd79ef22ecf2d931d4f5697089ca892aba58d668c17f5 · 510,957 bytes
Verification
Verified against source, 7 November 2026, 06:49 UTC Run at 7 November 2026, 06:49 UTC; 32 of 32 figures matched the live source.
| Result | Check | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Pass | Provenance recorded | Department for Education; Open Government Licence v3.0; retrieved 2026-11-07T06:44:53Z; 3 raw file(s) |
| Pass | Raw files match recorded SHA-256 | 3 of 3 files intact |
| Pass | Re-parsing raw files reproduces figures | 32 of 32 figures and the headline reproduced |
| Pass | Figures are finite numbers | 32 figures, 0 invalid |
| Pass | Live source matches every figure | 32 of 32 figures match exactly after downloading 3 source file(s) again (2 byte-identical); the headline matches |
| Pass | EES file is current | the latest period, 2024/25, ended on 2025-07-31, 464 days before retrieval (limit 700), from Academic year 2025/26 |
| Pass | EES query API agrees | 32 of 32 figures match the query API's full-year data set (https://api.education.gov.uk/statistics/v1/data-sets/1d419801-a90e-f970-9335-a13623faccbe/query?indicators=EADqF&geographicLevels.eq=NAT&pageSize=10000) |
| Pass | The levels add up to all starts | 8 of 8 cases of the years' starts at each level, with those at an unknown level, add up to all starts within the 25 their rounding to 10 allows within 25 (5 exactly) |
| Pass | Source page answers | https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships – HTTP 200 |
Notes
- Apprenticeships started at any point in the academic year (August to July), in all and at each level (intermediate is level 2, advanced level 3, higher level 4 and above); the DfE counts the starts whose level it does not know in all starts alone. Someone starting two apprenticeships counts twice. The DfE rounds each count to the nearest 10.
- The DfE's newest release also gives the first three quarters of the year in progress, provisionally; the hub shows whole years only, so the two years shown cover the same months.