Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of the total number of apprenticeship starts in the latest year for which figures are available were in (1) jobs for new employees, and (2) apprenticeships for existing employees with their current employer.

The ‘Apprenticeship Evaluation Learner Survey 2015’ report published in October 2016 provides the following key findings on routes into apprenticeships:

New employees

• Nearly half (48%) of Level 2 and 3 apprentices were recruited with the intention of doing an apprenticeship.

• Compared to Level 2 and 3 apprentices, higher apprentices were less likely to have been specifically recruited to an apprenticeship (32%).

• In the 2014 survey a third of apprentices stated they had been recruited specifically as apprentices.

Existing employees

• Two-thirds (67%) of higher apprentices were existing employees, down from 80% reported in 2014, but much higher than Level 2 and 3 apprentices (51%).

• The vast majority (88%) of Level 5 apprentices were existing employees, compared to a third (34%) of Level 4 apprentices.

  Source: Apprenticeships Evaluation 2015 - Learners A report by IFF Research, with the Institute for Employment Research at the University of Warwick, October 2016

  The attached document shows information on the recruitment into apprenticeships (Levels 2 and 3), taken from the source above.

  Note: The Apprenticeship Evaluation Learner Survey 2015 consisted of quantitative interviews with 5,000 Level 2 and 3 apprentices, as well as 800 higher apprentices, to explore their views of their apprenticeship. This research covered both current apprentices at the time of survey, and recent completers (those that had completed their apprenticeship 12-20 months prior to being interviewed).

  The department can only use survey information rather than administrative data to answer this question.