Apprenticeship change analysis by Level and Spend

Total Apprenticeship spend increased by about £2 million between 2017/18 and 2018/19 but decreased by about the same amount between 2018/19 and 2019/20. Spend then decreased by more than £3 million between 2019/20 and 2020/21, a decline of -16%. Over the four-year period, the net change was a decline in spend of -15%.

While Level 2 spend remained broadly similar over the whole period 2017/18 to 2019/20, significant increases in Level 3 spend occurred over this period, with an increase in Level 4+ spend also apparent over the period 2018/19 to 2019/20. However, some of this is likely to be explained by a continual decrease in the proportion of spend where the level is not known over the three-year period. More recently, over the period 2019/20 and 2020/21 a decrease in spend is evident at all levels.

Apprenticeship Level change analysis by Local Authority

Geographical patterns of change in spend over the whole period 2017/18 to 2020/21 varied somewhat. Over the period 2017/18 and 2018/19, an increase in spend was evident in all local authority areas with the exception of Coventry. Over the period 2018/19 to 2020/21 decreased spend was evident in all local authority areas. Over the four-year period, Black Country learners consistently made up about 62% of the apprentice learners.

Apprenticeship Level change analysis by Gender / Ethnicity

The number of Apprentice learners fell by almost 1,800 over the whole period 2017/18 to 2020/21, or by -19%. Decreases were evident in relation to both male and female learners, although the rate of decline was greater in females (-22%) than in males (-17%). There were some variations by ethnic group, with the strongest decline over the four-year period seen in White learners (-22%) followed by learners in the Black African and Black Caribbean category (-18%).