What’s happening with apprenticeship starts and achievements?
David Kernohan is Deputy Editor of Wonkhe
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Level 6 and Level 7 apprenticeships – those at a degree level or above, represent 18 per cent (50,110) of all apprenticeship starts in 2024-25.
Meanwhile Higher apprenticeships (those at Level 4 and Level 5) constitute a further 35 per cent (76,970) this year’s starts.
Within generally sluggish growth in the popularity of apprenticeships (up just 0.7 per cent over last year, down 13.7 per cent from the 2018-19 peak) the biggest decline has been among those aged 19-24 – making the popularity of degree level apprenticeships (generally taken by older students) even more remarkable.
But starts are only one end of the story – today’s letter from Jacqui Smith (released alongside new statistics covering provision up to quarter 2 of 2024-25) focuses on those who complete and pass their apprenticeship, known in the jargon of the sector as “achievements”. In standard higher education terms these are students who enroll, who do not leave the course, and achieve the qualification they were aiming for.
This explosion in apprenticeship achievements at undergraduate level and above are not all based in traditional universities by any means – the three largest providers for the most recent quarter of data are Kaplan, Corndell, and BPP. For level 7 (at risk of being defunded in England) the volume provision is at Kaplan, BPP, Ernst & Young, and Corndell; and is focused on accountancy or taxation specialists.
The amount and fidelity of data available is astonishing. You can look at starts in any English local authority, and any framework (subject area – the pink bit at the bottom left), and age. So for instance, we learn there were more teacher apprenticeship starts at the University of Buckingham than any other provider in 2024-25 quarter 2. And I’ve done a by provider chart so you can see (for instance) that this has been a pretty recent development.
One of the key measures of the effectiveness of apprenticeship provision is the achievement rate – the proportion of students who enroll who achieve their qualification (that’s the short version: the definition is complex, so follow that link for more. We get surprisingly detailed data on this within today’s release, though oddly – given their increasing attractiveness to learners and providers – not about degree level apprenticeships. On this chart we can see the achievement rate for higher (levels 4 and 5) apprenticeships by provider, and filter by subject and framework.
Somewhat counterintuitively, there’s a not huge difference between achievement rates by level. Pass rates are high from level 2 through to level 7, the variation is really in retention rates and is closely impacted by age.
