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Apprenticeship outcomes

Statistics on the employment and learning outcomes of apprenticeship learners

Education and skills
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North East outcomes

Summary

  • Among North East learners achieving an apprenticeship as their highest aim in 2020/21:
    • About 93% were in a sustained postive destination in 2021/22
    • this was the same percentage as nationally
    • it was the median value among the eight core city areas
    • within the North East, the rate was highest in Sunderland (95%).

Detailed outcomes

  • Among North East learners achieving an apprenticeship aim in 2020/21:
    • About 91% were in a sustained employment destination
    • this included 75% in employment only and 16% combining employment with further learning
    • although high, the North East percentage was lower than the national equivalent
    • the percentage in sustained employment was higher in Sunderland than in any other North East local authority area.

Recent trends

  • Among North East learners achieving an apprenticeship aim:
    • The sustained positive destination rate has been 93% in four of the latest five years
    • the sustained employment rate has been at 91% in each of the five years
    • in the last two years, there was a decrease in the percentage of North East learners moving into a combination of employment and learning.

Cohorts

  • The latest cohort in this dataset includes North East learners achieving an apprenticeship aim in 2020/21:
    • This total was less than half the equivalent total in 2016/17
    • it was almost 17% lower than a year earlier
    • two further years of apprenticeship achievements statistics are available without outcomes information. In 2022/23 there were 7,090 apprenticeship achievements in the North East
    • this was higher than in 2020/21. The hub's "apprenticeship achievements and starts" page has further detail.

About the data source

  • This data set includes analysis of apprenticeship outcomes from the further education outcomes (FEO) dataset
  • apprenticeships are paid jobs that incorporate on-the-job and off-the-job training leading to nationally recognised qualifications. As an employee, apprentices earn as they learn and gain practical skills in the workplace
  • the FEO dataset shows the percentage of further education learners going to or remaining in an education and/or employment destination in the academic year after achieving their learning aim
  • the most recent data reports on learners who achieved their aim in the 2020/21 academic year, and identifies their education and/or employment destinations the following year (2021/22)
  • the data reports outcomes by various learner demographics and type and level of learning. Where a learner achieves more than one aim within an academic year, the outcomes for the learner are reported against the highest and latest aim within that year
  • the Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) dataset is used, which looks at how learners move through education and into the labour market by bringing together:
    • schools, further and higher education information from the Department for Education (DfE)
    • employment information from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)
    • benefit histories from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP)

Levels and topics

Outcomes by level

  • Among North East learners achieving an apprenticeship in 2020/21:
    • The sustained postive destination rate was similar for all levels of apprenticeship
    • at all levels, rates were 91% or higher and similar to national rates
    • the rate was slightly higher at intermediate level than advanced level
    • learners at intermediate level were more likely to be in a combination of employment and learning than those at advanced or higher level.

Cohorts

  • Among learners achieving an apprenticeship in 2020/21 within the North East:
    • About 36% were at the lowest, intermediate, level
    • just over 49% were at advanced level
    • the remaining 15% were at higher level
    • about 31% were in the business, administration and law topic category
    • almost 19% were in engineering and manufacturing technologies, with a similar number in health, public services and care
    • most of the rest were in topics relating to construction, planning and the built environment; retail and commercial enterprise; or information and communication technology.

Outcomes by topic

  • Among those achieving an apprenticeship in 2020/21 in the North East:
    • learners in education and training; business, administration and law; and engineering and manufacturing technologies were most likely to be in a sustained positive destination
    • every apprenticeship topic area in the North East had a sustained positive destination rate of at least 89%
    • learners in education and training were more likely to be in a sustained destination that included further learning.

Outcomes by learner characteristic

Summary

  • Among North East learners achieving an apprenticeship in 2020/21:
    • although there were variations between learners with different characteristics, in each case more than 90% were in sustained positive destinations in 2021/22
    • the levels of apprenticeships that learners undertook varied by personal characteristic
    • for example, female apprenticeships were more likely to be at higher level than those for males
    • in contrast, apprenticeships among younger age groups were more likely to be at intermediate level than those among older people.

Females and males

  • Comparing female and male learners in the North East who achieved an apprenticeship in 2020/21:
    • females were more likely to be in a sustained positive destination
    • females were slightly more likely to be in a sustained employment destination, but the same is also true for sustained learning destinations
    • about 17% of the female cohort were in higher level apprenticeships, compared to 12.5% of males.

Age groups

  • Comparing four age-based chorts of learners in the North East who achieved an apprenticeship in 2020/21:
    • those aged 19 to 24 were slightly more likely to be in a sustained positive destination
    • those aged 18 and under were much more likely to be in a sustained learning destination, including those with employment destinations
    • about 75% of those aged 18 and under were in intermediate apprenticeships, compared to fewer than 30% of the 25 to 49 and 50 plus age groups.

Learning difficulties or disability

  • About 10% of learners in the North East who achieved an apprenticeship in 2020/21 had learning difficulties or a disability:
    • This group of people had a sustained positive destination rate of 91%
    • this was slightly lower than for people without learning difficulties or a disability (94%)
    • this group were slightly more likely than others to be in a sustained destination combining employment and learning.

Further education outcomes

  • About 89% of further education learners in the North East with an achievement in 2020/21 undertook adult education and training courses
  • about 10% were apprentices, with the remaining 1% undertaking traineeships
  • the latest North East sustained positive destination rate for all further education learners was 80%
  • the rate was lower among those with an adult education and training course (79%) than among apprentices (93%)
  • it was lowest among those below level 2 (excluding essential skills) where the rate was 66%
  • learners undertaking essential skills courses; adult education and training courses at level 3; and intermediate apprenticeships were most likely to be in sustained learning destinations, sometimes alongside employment.