Apprenticeship Programmes in NI, 2023/24

Apprenticeship Programmes in
NI, 2023/24

Published 27 March 2026

An Official Statistic Publication
Published by: Youth Training Statistics and Research Branch, Department for the Economy

Contact: Sinead Madine
Telephone: 028 9025 7736
Email: analyticalservices@economy-ni.gov.uk

Theme: Children, Education & Skills
Coverage: Northern Ireland
Frequency: Annual

Publication date: 27 March 2026

Apprenticeship Programmes 2023/24

This report presents the overall number of apprenticeships in Northern Ireland in 2023/24. It combines information from ApprenticeshipsNI and Higher Level Apprenticeships (HLAs) delivered in Further Education (FE) and Higher Education (HE).

Key figures:

8,815

Apprenticeship
starts

13,555

Apprenticeship
students

4,735

Apprenticeship students qualified

1. Starts

Figure 1.1: 8,815 new starts on Apprenticeship programmes in NI in 2023/24

Apprenticeship programme starts for AppsNI, HLAs FE and HLAs HE in 2023/24

Figure 1.2: Level 2 remains the most popular for apprenticeship starts in 2023/24

Number of Apprenticeships starts by Level, 2023/24

Download data:

Figure 1.2.CSV (1kB)

Figure 1.2.XLSX (7kB)

2. Participants

Figure 2.1: 13,555 Apprenticeship participants in NI in 2023/24

Apprenticeship programme participants for AppsNI, HLAs FE and HLAs HE in 2023/24

Figure 2.2: Mid Ulster tops apprenticeship rates relative to population

Start of LGD Section

Map

Participant rate for apprenticeship programmes in NI LGDs per 100,000 people aged 16–64, academic year 2023/24

Map data

Participant rate for apprenticeship programmes in NI LGDs per 100,000 people aged 16–64, academic year 2023/24

Local Government District	Participant Rates per 100,000
Antrim and Newtownabbey	994
Ards and North Down	930
Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon	1,309
Belfast	652
Causeway Coast and Glens	1,108
Derry City and Strabane	1,271
Fermanagh and Omagh	1,637
Lisburn and Castlereagh	815
Mid and East Antrim	1,160
Mid Ulster	1,841
Newry, Mourne and Down	1,354

End of LGD Section

Download map:

Figure 2.2 Map (PNG)

Figure 2.3: Participant rate for apprenticeship programmes in NI LGDs per 100,000 people aged 16–64, academic year 2023/24

Download data:

Figure 2.3.CSV (1kB)

Figure 2.3.XLSX (8kB)

Figure 2.4: Three-quarters of apprenticeship students are male in NI

Proportion of apprenticeship participants by sex, 2023/24

Figure 2.5: ApprenticeshipsNI have the lowest female representation

Participant breakdown by sex across Apprenticeship programmes, 2023/24

Download data:

Figure 2.5.CSV (1kB)

Figure 2.5.XLSX (8kB)

Table 2.6: Top five subject areas for each apprenticeship programme, 2023/24

ApprenticeshipsNI

ApprenticeshipsNI participants by the five most popular subject areas, 2023/24

Subject	Occupancy
Electrotechnical	1,898
Engineering	1,199
Construction	968
Vehicle Maintenance and Repair	927
Food and Drink	757

HLAs in FE

HLA in FE participants by the five most popular subject areas, 2023/24

Subject	Participants
Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies	675
Business, Administration and Law	385
Construction, Planning and the Built Environment	310
Information and Communication Technology	270
Health, Public Services and Care	120

HLAs in HE

HLA in HE participants by the five most popular subject areas, 2023/24

Subject	Participants
Business and Management	365
Computing	205
Engineering and Technology	175
Architecture, Building and Planning	120
Physical Sciences	30

3. Achievements

Table 3.1: 4,735 students achieved an apprenticeship qualification

Number of full achievers by apprenticeship programme, 2023/24

Apprenticeship programme	No. of students with full achievement
AppsNI Level 2	2,079
AppsNI Level 3*	1,856
HLAs FE	640
HLAs HE	160
Total	4,735

*Level 3 Full Framework includes those on Level 2/3 and Level 3

4. Notes

The three apprenticeship programmes reported on are:

1. ApprenticeshipsNI: Level 2, Level 2/3 and Level 3. Source: Trainee and Apprentice Management System. Unrounded data.

2. Higher Level Apprenticeships in Further Education: Level 4, Level 5, Level 6 and Level 7. Source: FE College Learner Management System (Consolidated data return) and CAFRE: College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise. Rounded data.

3. Higher Level Apprenticeships in Higher Education: Level 6 and Level 7. Source: Higher Education Statistical Agency (HESA). Rounded data.

• Rounding

  Higher Level Apprenticeship data are rounded to the nearest 5, with values of 0, 1 or 2 rounded down to 0 for this publication.

  The aggregated total - derived from three apprenticeship publication sources - has been calculated using unrounded data and then rounded to the nearest 5.

• 2024 mid-year population estimates for Northern Ireland have been used to create a rate per 100,000 population, aged 16 to 64 years.

• Starts refer to the number of students who are in the first year of an apprenticeship programme.

• The number of participants on ApprenticeshipsNI is termed occupancy and relates to those on programme at 31st October 2023. Higher Level Apprenticeship participants refer to the number of students who were on an HLA programme in 2023/24.

• Local Government District classifications are derived from the student’s home postcode and apply only to records with a valid Northern Ireland postcode. In contrast, the Northern Ireland total covers all Apprenticeships, including those without a valid NI postcode.

• The apprenticeship programmes reported on in this publication are supported through government funding.

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