In the first two quarters of the 2020/21 academic year, 161,900 apprenticeship starts (August 2020 to January 2021). This was an 18% reduction over the same period in 2019/20, with about 36,700 fewer starts.
There were 719,000 apprentices in England in 2019/20, with 322,500 apprenticeship starts and 146,900 apprenticeship completions.
The coronavirus pandemic began in March 2020 and decreased the number of starts in 2019/20. The outbreak and closure disproportionately negatively impacted people under the age of 19 and those starting intermediate level apprenticeships.
In 2019/20, 23,400 fewer people enrolled in apprenticeships than in 2018/19.