Information is not available to identify the total number of apprentices by sector as listed above.
Table 1 as follows shows apprenticeship starts for 2007/08 and 2008/09 (based on provisional data) by sector subject area.
Sector subject area 2007/08 2008/091 Agriculture, Horticulture and Animal Care 4,500 5,100 Arts, Media and Publishing 100 200 Business, Administration and Law 50,700 62,700 Construction, Planning and the Built Environment 27,800 27,900 Education and Training 300 1,200 Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies 43,100 36,000 Health, Public Services and Care 31,100 34,200 Information and Communication Technology 8,000 8,700 Languages, Literature and Culture 2— 2— Leisure, Travel and Tourism 6,300 11,100 Preparation for Life and Work 2— 2— Retail and Commercial Enterprise 49,300 46,800 Science and Mathematics 2— 2— Unknown 3,500 2— Grand Total 224,800 234,000 1 Provisional. 2 Indicates a base value of less than fifty. Notes: 1. The following data sources have been used; Work-based learning (WBL)—2007/08 and earlier years (W13 final), 2008/09 (E12 07/08/09). 2. Volumes are rounded to the nearest hundred. 3. Unlike participation figures, figures are comparable between 2008/09 and earlier years as demand led funding does not affect starts. 4. Apprenticeship starts for 2008/09 are provisional. Starts will rise by approximately 2-3 per cent.. This revised information will be shown in the December 2009 SFR, and the accompanying supplementary tables. 5. Full-year numbers are a count of the number of starts at any point during the year. Learners starting more than one framework will appear more than once. 6. Higher level apprenticeships are included with advanced apprenticeships. Programme-led apprenticeships recorded in WBL ILR returns are included in the above figures.
More detailed data are also available by apprenticeship sector framework code and by region. This was published in supplementary tables S6.1 and S6.2 of the Statistical First Release published in October. This information can be found here:
http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/sfroct09/sfr_oct_2009_table_6.htm
The number of people starting and successfully completing an apprenticeship is at a record level, with 127,000 (provisional) completing in 2008/09 compared to 112,000 in 2007/08. Completion rates reached an all time high of 64 per cent. in 2007/08 compared to 37 per cent. in 2004/05. Table 1 shows the number of people that left an apprenticeship programme without achieving, by quarter, for 2003/04 to 2007/08, the latest year for which we have complete data.
Number 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 Quarter 1 30,900 22,400 20,300 16,200 15,800 Quarter 2 27,600 20,200 17,800 14,000 13,500 Quarter 3 28,600 19,000 17,100 13,500 14,600 Quarter 4 27,300 20,300 18,000 13,200 14,500 Unknown 5,700 9,000 4,800 4,300 3,900 Total 120,100 90,900 78,000 61,100 62,300 Notes: 1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred, and therefore may not sum to totals. 2. Quarter 1: 1 August to 31 October Quarter 2: 1 November to 31 January Quarter 3: 1 February to 30 April Quarter 4: 1 May to 31 July. 3. Figures for 2003/04 are not directly comparable to later years due to a change in the variable used to record the status of the learner. 4. Withdrawals include both those learners that left the course prior to the end date, and those learners that attended the full duration of the course but did not achieve a qualification. Source: WBL ILR.