In academic year 2024/25, there were 3,240 government funded Higher Level Apprenticeship (HLA) students in Northern Ireland, including 2,120 enrolled at Further Education (FE) providers and 1,120 at Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Of these, 3,180 were Northern Ireland domiciled students, with 2,110 studying through FE provision and 1,065 through HEI provision. The HLA students were employed by 1,030 businesses across Northern Ireland, with many employers supporting more than one higher level apprentice.
Key Findings by Provider
South West College (SWC) recorded the highest number of HLA students in FE provision and was associated with the largest number of participating businesses, with 580 students employed by 285 businesses.
- Within SWC, the Dungannon campus accounted for the highest number of students, with 300 HLA enrolments.
Ulster University (UU) recorded the highest number of HLA students (975), with a wide spread of students from across all regions of Northern Ireland. These students were employed by 200 businesses.
- Within UU, the Belfast campus accounted for the largest share (815) of HLA students.
For Further Education colleges, both student residences and business locations tend to be concentrated within the broader catchment areas of provider campuses, although Belfast remained a hub for business activity.
The Higher Education Institutions drew students from a much wider geographical area across Northern Ireland, while businesses employing HLA HEI students were predominantly located in the main towns and cities, particularly Belfast.
This presents a series of maps illustrating the regional distribution of Higher Level Apprenticeship students in academic year 2024/25 and the locations of their employers across Northern Ireland in 2025.
Mapping HLA students and employers across NI
3,240 HLA students enrolled at FE and HEIs in NI, 2024/25.
1,030 businesses employed HLA students, 2025.
Figure 1a: Location of NI Domiciled HLA students, academic year 2024/25
Figure 1b: Location of Businesses with HLA employees, 2025
Mapping HLA Provider Campuses
Figure 2: Number of HLA participants by Provider campus site, academic year 2024/25
Interactive map: Hover over a map marker to view the HLA provider, campus location and the number of HLA students associated with that site.
Map
Map data
| Provider | Participants |
|---|---|
| Belfast Metropolitan College | 395 |
| Northern Regional College | 190 |
| North West Regional College | 115 |
| South Eastern Regional College | 275 |
| Southern Regional College | 510 |
| South West College | 580 |
| CAFRE | 50 |
| Ulster University | 975 |
| Queen’s University Belfast | 145 |
Mapping HLA Students and Businesses by Provider
This section presents a series of maps for each HLA provider. Separate maps show the regional distribution of HLA students and the locations of the businesses employing those students.
For Further Education colleges, both student residences and business locations tend to be concentrated within the broader catchment areas of provider campuses, although Belfast remained a hub for business activity. By comparison, the Higher Education Institutions drew students from a much wider geographical area across Northern Ireland, while businesses employing HLA HEI students were predominantly located in the main towns and cities, particularly Belfast.
Belfast Metropolitan College
395 HLA students enrolled at BMC, 2024/25.
170 businesses employed HLA students at BMC, 2025.
Figure 3a: Regional Distribution of NI Domiciled HLA students at BMC, 2024/25
Figure 3b: Regional Distribution of Businesses employing HLA students at BMC, 2025
Northern Regional College
190 HLA students enrolled at NRC, 2024/25.
105 businesses employed HLA students at NRC, 2025.
Figure 4a: Regional Distribution of NI Domiciled HLA students at NRC, 2024/25
Figure 4b: Regional Distribution of Businesses employing HLA students at NRC, 2025
North West Regional College
115 HLA students enrolled at NWRC, 2024/25.
65 businesses employed HLA students at NWRC, 2025.
Figure 5a: Regional Distribution of NI Domiciled HLA students at NWRC, 2024/25
Figure 5b: Regional Distribution of Businesses employing HLA students at NWRC, 2025
South Eastern Regional College
275 HLA students enrolled at SERC, 2024/25.
150 businesses employed HLAs at SERC, 2025.
Figure 6a: Regional Distribution of NI Domiciled HLA students at SERC, 2024/25
Figure 6b: Regional Distribution of Businesses employing HLA students at SERC, 2025
Southern Regional College
510 HLA students enrolled at SRC, 2024/25.
230 businesses employed HLA students at SRC, 2025.
Figure 7a : Regional Distribution of NI Domiciled HLA students at SRC, 2024/25
Figure 7b: Regional Distribution of Businesses employing HLA students at SRC, 2025
South West College
Among all Further Education colleges, South West College (SWC) recorded the highest number of Higher Level Apprenticeship students enrolled in 2024/25 and was associated with the highest number of businesses employing HLA students in 2025.
580 HLA students enrolled at SWC, 2024/25.
285 businesses employed HLA students at SWC, 2025.
Figure 8a: Regional Distribution of NI Domiciled HLA students at SWC, 2024/25
Figure 8b: Regional Distribution of Businesses employing HLA students at SWC, 2025
CAFRE
50 HLA students enrolled at CAFRE, 2024/25.
20 businesses employed HLA students at CAFRE, 2025.
Figure 9a: Regional Distribution of NI Domiciled HLA students at CAFRE, 2024/25
Figure 9b: Regional Distribution of Businesses employing HLA students at CAFRE, 2025
Ulster University
Among all HLA providers, Ulster University recorded the highest number of Higher Level Apprenticeship students enrolled in 2024/25 and was associated with the highest number of businesses employing HLA students in 2025.
975 HLA students enrolled at UU, 2024/25.
200 businesses employed HLA students at UU, 2025.
Figure 10a: Regional Distribution of NI Domiciled HLA students at UU, 2024/25
Figure 10b: Regional Distribution of Businesses employing HLA students at UU, 2025
Queen’s University Belfast
145 HLA students enrolled at QUB, 2024/25.
35 businesses employed HLA students at QUB, 2025.
Figure 11a: Regional Distribution of NI Domiciled HLA students at QUB, 2024/25
Figure 11b: Regional Distribution of Businesses employing HLA students at QUB, 2025
Further Information
Mapping methodology: Higher Level Apprenticeship mapping is based on NI domiciled students and HLA businesses with a valid Northern Ireland postcode. Student and business postcodes were matched to the NISRA postcode file, which provides Irish Grid X and Y coordinates representing the average location of all addresses within a postcode. Consequently, the coordinates assigned to a postcode may differ from the actual location of an individual address within that postcode. As a result, the use of postcode centroids may introduce a small degree of spatial inaccuracy.
A small number of student and business postcodes (fewer than 20) were assigned a grid reference of 666666 or 999999 from the NISRA postcode file. For these cases, appropriate X and Y coordinates were identified using online sources and the Irish Grid Reference Finder.
The Irish Grid coordinates (EPSG:29903) of students and businesses were converted to latitude and longitude coordinates (EPSG:4326) using the R package sf (Simple Features). These latitude and longitude coordinates were then used to produce the maps. The co-ordinate conversion error is almost negligible.
Rounding: Data are rounded to the nearest 5 with 0, 1 and 2 rounded to zero.
Zoom restrictions and disclosure settings: These may vary across provider maps due to differences in the number of students or businesses associated with each provider.
Publication links:
Information included in this publication has primarily been published previously. The related data and accompanying notes can be accessed through the publication links provided below:
Higher Level Apprenticeships in Further Education, academic year 2024/25
Higher Level Apprenticeships in Higher Education Institutions, academic year 2024/25
Employer participation in Higher Level Apprenticeships across Northern Ireland 2025
Central Postcode Directory | Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency Business
Contact Details
For further details on any of these statistics, or to provide feedback contact:
| Name(s): | Sinead Madine | Seana McIlwaine |
| Email: | sinead.madine@economy-ni.gov.uk | seana.mcilwaine@economy-ni.gov.uk |
| Telephone: | 028 90 257736 | 028 90 257708 |