Apprentices working in the public sector are more likely to be over the age of 25 and from a black, Asian or minority ethnic background (BAME), new figures have revealed.

Provisional statistics published by the Department for Education today show that only one in five of apprenticeship starts in the public sector were for learners aged under 19 compared with a third of starts for those not identified as public sector.

In total, 14 per cent of all apprenticeship starts were linked to employers that were public sector bodies.

The NHS and civil service were most likely to recruit apprentices from the 25-and-over age group - 62.4 per cent and 57.3 per cent of starts respectively.

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Prevalence of business admin starts 

Apprentices in the public sector were more likely to be from ethnic minorities: 13.3 per cent of starts in the public sector were by apprentices from Asian, black, mixed or other ethnic groups compared with 10.2 per cent of starts not identified as public sector.

Higher-level apprenticeship starts were more prevalent in the public sector, especially in the civil service and NHS: 30.5 per cent of starts in the civil service were at Level 4 and above and 27.7 per cent in the NHS.

Starts in the Armed Forces and police were predominantly on intermediate apprenticeships - 64.7 and 54.9 per cent respectively.

Apprenticeship starts in business, administration, law, health, public services and care were the most common across the public sector. Business, administration and law account for the majority of starts in the police (86.6 per cent), the civil service (57.9 per cent) and local government (51.3 per cent).

Apprenticeships minister Anne Milton said she was thrilled to see the number of people starting apprenticeships had gone up by 9.7 per cent on this time last year.

“This is good news and really highlights how employers up and down the country are realising the huge benefits apprenticeships are bringing to their business. Apprenticeships offer people of all ages and backgrounds a high quality route to skilled employment with the option to train at every level. You get paid while you train and can start a great career in a huge range of professions like accountancy, nursing, teaching and law.”