Apprenticeship starts in England rose by 8.7% to 308,770 between August 2025 and April 2026, compared with the same period a year earlier.
Successful apprenticeship completions rose by 14% to 146,210, according to official provisional figures published in July. These count programmes completed during the period, rather than the proportion of that period’s new starters who finished.
What is an apprenticeship?
The government’s guidance describes a programme that develops job-specific skills through employment and study. Employers can observe how a worker applies those skills, while the apprentice gains experience of real working conditions.
The model extends beyond traditional trades. Higher apprenticeships, which include degree-level programmes, recorded 126,660 starts during the nine-month period, up 13.6% on a year earlier.
Recruitment pressures have eased, but shortages remain
The UK’s Employer Skills Survey 2024 estimated 250,500 skill-shortage vacancies. These are positions employers struggle to fill because applicants lack the required skills, qualifications or experience.
They accounted for 27% of all vacancies, down from 36% in 2022 but above the 22% recorded in 2017. Around 6% of employers reported at least one such vacancy, compared with 10% in 2022.
Hiring pressures were consequently less severe than at their recent peak. Apprenticeships offer an alternative where recruiting somebody already qualified remains difficult: an employer can develop the required skills through supervised work and formal training.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s 2018 analysis of apprenticeship costs and benefits identifies possible recruitment savings when businesses retain trained apprentices. Employers already know their performance, and former apprentices may need less initial training than external recruits.
Those benefits require investment. The OECD identifies wages, supervisors’ time, equipment and administration among the costs. Returns differ between occupations and businesses; an apprenticeship is not automatically a cheaper way to fill a vacancy.
Older workers are driving growth
Starts among people aged 25 and over rose by 17.5% to 161,670 in England between August 2025 and April 2026. That group accounted for 52.4% of all starts. Under-19 starts fell by 5.4% to 63,530.
The growth extends beyond school-leavers entering a first trade. The International Labour Organization’s recommendations also promote apprenticeships for adults changing occupations or developing their skills.
Its guide to quality apprenticeships stresses organised training, fair remuneration, safe working conditions and social protection. Employers need to provide genuine instruction, and workers need a programme that develops recognised occupational competence.
England’s next statistical update is due in November and will cover the full 2025/26 academic year. The current figures establish growth in starts and completions, but do not measure how far apprenticeships have reduced employers’ skills shortages.
