Apprenticeship starts recovering to pre-pandemic levels, DfE data shows

Apprenticeship starts appear to be recovering to pre-Covid levels, according to new Department for Education data.

Provisional figures published this morning show there were 130,200 starts recorded from August to October 2021, compared to 91,100 reported for the same period in 2020 – a 43 per cent jump.

The starts recorded for the first quarter of 2021/22 are also 3 per cent up on the 125,800 reported for same period in 2019 before the pandemic struck.

However, the picture is less rosy for traineeships which are struggling to take off despite substantial investment from the Treasury.

Today’s data shows there were 5,600 traineeship starts recorded between August and October 2021 – a 5 per cent fall on the 5,900 recorded for the same period in 2020, and a 2 per cent drop on the 5,700 reported in 2019.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak set a target to triple the number of starts in both the 2020/21 and 2021/22 academic years, backed with almost £250 million.

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