Modern Apprenticeships: FOI release

Information requested

1. How many Scots got modern apprenticeship starts in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022.

2. A breakdown of what sectors these modern apprenticeships were in.

3. How much money has the Scottish Government spent on the modern apprenticeship programme in each of the years listed above.

Response

1. The answer to your question is that Official Modern Apprenticeship statistics are published by Skills Development Scotland quarterly, including the number of starts. Starts are cumulative throughout the year and the Modern Apprenticeship 2021/22 Quarter 4 (Year End) statistics are expected to be published in May 2022. These starts are not broken down by Nationality of the apprentice.

The annual Modern Apprenticeships starts are as follows:

Financial Year	Number of Modern Apprenticeship Starts
2017-18	27,145
2018-19	27,270
2019-20	27,875
2020-21	18,655
2021-22 Quarter 3	18,629

2. The answer to your question is that Skills Development Scotland do not report annual Modern Apprenticeship starts by sector, but instead by occupational grouping. A breakdown of annual Modern Apprenticeship starts by occupational grouping for the years requested is as follows:

Occupational Grouping	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22   Quarter 3
Administration & Related	1,811	1,826	1,558	581	756
Animal Care, Land & Water based	296	290	238	164	168
Automotive	1,085	1,187	1,159	510	659
Chemicals & Biotechnology Related	30	23	31	41	35
Construction & Related	6,104	6,111	6,417	5,033	5,034
Creative & Cultural Skills	221	134	161	52	43
Engineering & Energy Related	1,339	1,515	1,604	1,074	1,256
Financial Services	931	862	663	268	259
Food & Drink	1,251	1,221	1,217	846	636
Hospitality & Tourism	2,766	2,574	2,388	904	982
Management	557	855	723	531	452
Other Manufacture	355	177	152	74	80
IT & Other Services	2,107	2,331	2,352	1,783	2,095
Personal Services	831	848	606	284	437
Retail & Customer Service	2,263	2,074	1,708	520	623
Sport, Health & Social Care	3,628	4,019	5,446	4,880	4,007
Transport & Logistics	1,570	1,223	1,452	1,110	1,107
Total	27,145	27,270	27,875	18,655	18,629

3. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. The reasons why we don't have the information are explained below.

Skills Development Scotland is allocated Grant in Aid funding each year which is used to deliver commitments as set out in the corresponding letter of Ministerial guidance. These are published by Skills Development Scotland on their corporate website. Funding includes provision for Modern Apprenticeships as well as other commitments which include national training programmes, Foundation Apprenticeships, Scotland’s Careers Information, Advice and Guidance service and Skills Development Scotland’s staffing and running costs. It is the responsibility of Skills Development Scotland and their board to allocate funding to programmes in order to deliver Ministerial priorities.

Grant in Aid allocations for the years requested are set out below:
 

Financial Year	Grant in Aid (£m) at budget bill
2017-18	179.6
2018-19	193.3
2019-20	214.7
2020-21	224.8
2021-22	230.9
2022-23	224.2

The Scottish Government does not have the information you have asked for because Scottish Government does not hold the detailed breakdown of spend on Modern Apprenticeships in the years requested. As the Public Body responsible for delivering the Modern Apprenticeship programme, you may wish to contact Skills Development Scotland via FOI@sds.co.uk who may be able to assist with this more detailed breakdown of annual Modern Apprenticeship spend.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.