The Department for Education has published further education and skills statistics, including learner participation and achievements. These statistics now include the apprenticeship and levy statistics which were previously published as a separate publication. The figures show that for the 2018/19 academic year (August 2018 to July 2019) there were 393,400 apprenticeship starts, compared with 375,800 in 2017/18, and 509,400 in 2015/16, prior to introduction of the apprenticeship levy. The traineeship statistics show that there were 14,900 traineeship starts in 2018/19, a decrease from 17,700 in 2017/18.
The statistics also show that 24.8 % of starts were for learners aged under 19. This article comments on the fact that the number of apprenticeships started by young people is now 22% lower than five years ago.