Question reference: S5W-36051
- Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 11 March 2021
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Current status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 23 March 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) foundation, (b) modern and (c) graduate-level apprenticeships were started in each year since 2018-19, also broken down by month.
Answer
Skills Development Scotland (SDS) has operational responsibility for our apprenticeship programmes in Scotland and administer them on behalf of the Scottish Government.
The annual Foundation Apprenticeship (FA) statistics are:
- Cohort 3 (2018-2020) – 1,535 FA Starts
- Cohort 4 (2019-2021) – 3,445 FA Starts
The annual Modern Apprenticeship (MA) statistics are:
- 2018-19 – 27, 270 MA Starts
- 2019-20 – 27,875 MA Starts
- 2020-21 Q3 – 10, 604 MA Starts
The annual Graduate Apprenticeship (GA) statistics are:
- 2018-19 – 921 GA Starts
- 2019-20 – 1,160 GA Starts
SDS do not report Scotland’s Apprenticeship Family statistics by month. Official Modern Apprenticeship statistics are published quarterly, including the number of starts. The Modern Apprenticeship 2020-21 Q4 (Year End) statistics will be published in June 2021. Foundation and Graduate Apprenticeship statistics are published on an annual basis.
Both Modern and Graduate Apprenticeship statistics are now formally recognised within our Apprenticeship delivery targets, opening up more opportunities in key highly skilled areas. Prior to the impacts of COVID-19, the Scottish Government consistently exceeded our annual Apprenticeship targets year on year.
COVID-19 has had an unprecedented effect on Scotland’s economy, creating challenges for businesses and individuals throughout Scotland. This has, and will continue to have, an impact on apprenticeship provision throughout the year.
The latest official statistics, covering April-December 2020, demonstrate the impact on apprenticeship starts following the positive steps during this period to ease restrictions and begin to open up the economy across the country.
The Quarter 3 statistics, published on 9 February 2021, show a positive increase in Modern Apprenticeship starts compared to the Quarter 2 statistics but are still lower than at the same point in previous years, reflecting the ongoing impact from COVID-19.
The table below provides a breakdown of the quarterly Modern Apprenticeship Starts since 2018-19 which are cumulative throughout the year.
Modern Apprenticeship starts by Quarter | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 |
Q1 | 4,126 | 4,336 | 910 |
Q2 | 12,976 | 13,719 | 3,633 |
Q3 | 19,895 | 21,240 | 10,604 |
Q4 (Year End) | 27,270 | 27,875 | N/A |
The table below provides a breakdown of the annual Foundation Apprenticeship Starts since 2018/19.
Cohort 3 (2018-2020) | Cohort 4 (2019-2021) | |
Foundation Apprenticeship starts by Year | 1,535 | 3,445 |
The table below provides a breakdown of the annual Graduate Apprenticeship Starts since 2018-19.
2018-19 | 2019-20 | |
Graduate Apprenticeship starts by Year | 921 | 1,160 |
Both Modern and Graduate Apprenticeship statistics are now formally recognised within our Apprenticeship delivery targets, opening up more opportunities in key highly skilled areas. Prior to the impacts of COVID-19, the Scottish Government consistently exceeded our annual Apprenticeship targets year on year.