January 2016 Produced by Skills for Care

Apprenticeships in social care 2014/15 January 2016 Produced by Skills for Care

Contents Executive summary...3 Introduction...4 1. Starters...5 2. Leavers and achievements... 13 3. Participation... 16 Conclusion and recommendations... 20 2

Executive summary This report describes the number of learners starting, leaving and participating in Apprenticeships on the social care pathway of the health and social care framework and on the care leadership and management framework. The report covers factors such as Apprenticeship level, demographics, regional make-up, trend analysis and comparisons to other frameworks in order to provide context. It should be of interest to workforce planners, training providers, social care employers, government bodies, policy makers and anybody with an interest in Apprenticeships in adult social care. Key findings: Around 87,000 people started a social care Apprenticeship in 2014/15. This is 32% more than in 2013/14 and accounts for 17% of the half a million people who started across all frameworks. Around 20,000 more starting apprentices were aged 24 or over compared to 2013/14. Social care remains the largest Apprenticeship framework. There were 38,000 more people who started in social care than the second largest framework (business administration). People starting higher Apprenticeships increased from 3,300 to 8,500. People starting on these care leadership and management framework higher Apprenticeships made up 43% of all 19,800 higher Apprenticeship starters. This makes it the largest higher Apprenticeship framework. Almost 32,000 social care apprentices achieved their learning aim in 2014/15, 7% more than in 2013/14. The achievement rate of social care apprentices increased slightly to 79%.Social care Apprenticeship achievements made up 12% of all achievements (260,900). Skills for Care estimates that there were as many as 150,000 participating apprentices in social care over the course of the 2014/15 academic year. This is around 17% of the total number of participating apprentices in all employment sectors (872,000). Estimated trends show that the number of participating social care apprentices has been increasing at a steady rate since 2010/11 as well as increasing relative to all working apprentices. 3

Introduction Apprenticeships are periods of paid employment that include on- and off-the-job training combined with studying for recognised qualifications. An Apprenticeship can be undertaken as a means to gain knowledge and skills specific to a sector of employment or as a valuable programme of training in its own right 1. Apprentices work as employees with experienced staff to gain job-specific skills, whilst working towards a number of qualifications and gaining experience. All whilst getting paid. The learning and development lets apprentices get relevant care skills. They might work directly with people who need care and support as a care worker, or team leader. Apprentices may also work in a non-direct social care role in catering or administration. The training undertaken as part of an Apprenticeship is tailored to the sector of employment and is separated into frameworks. A person interested in becoming an apprentice in the social care sector can start on either the health and social care framework for learning at levels 2 and 3, or the care leadership and management framework at level 5. Skills for Care (SfC) conducts analysis each year to isolate social care-specific Apprenticeships from the health and social care joint framework. This is done using data from the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) 2. This analysis was previously done by SCALE Consultants 3 and all social care-specific figures as at 2012/13 and before should be attributed to SCALE. The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) produces statistical releases 4 detailing the number of starts at various levels of detail, also making use of ILR data. This report draws on figures produced by the SFA to provide context and effort has been made to ensure that all figures presented here are comparable. Note that one start equates to one person starting an Apprenticeship programme, some of whom may have already completed a lowerlevel Apprenticeship. Similarly, one achiever describes a person who successfully completes their programme of learning. 1 http://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/learning-development/apprenticeships/apprenticeships.aspx 2 https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/individualised-learner-record-ilr 3 http://www.scaleconsultants.co.uk/ 4 https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fe-data-library-apprenticeships 4

1. Starters There were around 87,000 people who started a social care apprenticeship in 2014/15. This is 32% more than in 2013/14 and 17% of the half a million starts across all frameworks. Around 20,000 more starting apprentices were aged 24 or over compared to 2013/14. Higher apprenticeship starts increased from 3,300 to 8,500. Social care remains the largest apprenticeship framework. There were 38,000 more starts in social care than the second largest framework (business administration). This section describes the number and make-up of people starting an Apprenticeship in social care. The total number of people who started an Apprenticeship was just under 500,000 in academic year 2014/15 (table 1.1), an increase of 14% since 2013/14. Social care starts (comprising of the entirety of the care leadership and management framework and the social care pathway of the health and social care framework) totalled 86,600 in 2014/15 (17% of the total), the vast majority of which were on the social care pathway of the health and social care framework 5. This is a 32% increase on 2013/14. Care leadership and management starts rose from 3,300 in 2013/14 to 8,500 in 2014/15. This is a rise of 158%. Following a change in policy by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS), from August 2013 funding for apprentices aged 24 years or older was available only in the form of loans. This funding system was subsequently removed in February 2014 after a fall in the number of people in this age group starting Apprenticeships. This is likely to explain at least some of the decrease in the number of people starting Apprenticeships in 2013/14 and therefore the increase in 2014/15 when this loan scheme was no longer in place. Table 1.1 and chart 1.1 show that the number of people starting a social care Apprenticeship has been growing and continues to grow with respect to all Apprenticeships. The market share of all starting apprentices held by social care increased from 11% in 2010/11 to 17% in 2014/15. Similarly, the large percentage increases year-on-year for care-related frameworks (32% and 158%) are substantially greater than the percentage increase for all frameworks (14%). The large increase in care leadership and management starts also demonstrates the rise in popularity of social care Apprenticeships. 5 The health and social care framework is predominantly made up of social care apprenticeships, ranging between 85% and 94% over the reported period. 5

Table 1.1: Apprenticeship starts across all frameworks and in social care time series 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2013/14 to 2014/15 % change Health and Social Care 53,700 70,800 80,900 70,100 85,400 22% Social care pathway 50,500 63,500 70,100 62,100 78,100 26% Social care % 94% 90% 87% 89% 91% - Care Leadership and Management - - 3,000 3,300 8,500 158% All social care starts 50,500 63,500 73,100 65,400 86,600 32% All social care starts % of total 11% 12% 14% 15% 17% - All frameworks 457,200 520,600 510,200 440,400 499,900 14% The social care pathway is a subset of the health and social care framework Data in this table are rounded Chart 1.1: Apprenticeship starts across all frameworks and in social care time series Throughout 2014/15 the number of people starting a social care Apprenticeship each month was relatively constant. The average number of starts was 7,200 per month; no period of the year saw a substantially higher than average number of starts, although December shows the fewest starts (4,200). 6

Table 1.2 compares social care starts to other large frameworks over a six-year period. It should be noted that social care starts totalled around 17,000 in 2009/10 (around 6% of all starts) and were considerably fewer prior to this time. Since 2011/12 there have been more starts in social care than any other framework. In 2014/15 the difference between social care starts and those on the second largest framework (business administration) reached 38,000. Between 2013/14 and 2014/15, most other large frameworks have shown either small increases or decreases in the number of starts. In absolute terms, social care has been the fastest growing Apprenticeship framework over the reported period. Care leadership and management starts (8,500) made up 43% of all 19,800 higher Apprenticeship starts. This makes it the largest higher Apprenticeship framework. For context the second largest higher Apprenticeship framework was management (5,100 starts) and only two other frameworks had more than 1,000 starts at this level (business administration, accountancy). Table 1.2: Apprenticeship starts in social care and other frameworks, time series 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 Social care* 17,900 50,500 63,500 73,100 65,400 86,600 Social care difference to other largest framework -11,510-3,470 4,410 23,610 21,210 38,000 Business Administration 27,020 38,900 44,550 49,490 44,190 48,600 Management 9,800 29,790 44,980 47,980 33,140 42,630 Hospitality and Catering 21,470 29,810 35,540 35,590 32,010 32,050 Customer Service 29,410 53,970 59,090 45,390 31,320 30,300 Children's Care Learning and Development 20,110 27,410 25,840 26,300 24,320 21,530 Construction Skills 14,070 15,590 13,560 13,610 15,510 17,540 Engineering 15,000 18,330 13,280 13,830 15,550 17,370 Industrial Applications 1,240 3,630 18,800 15,050 14,860 16,610 Retail 16,910 41,410 31,240 25,130 16,560 14,250 Hairdressing 16,240 16,450 16,610 15,590 14,670 14,050 *Social care includes the social care pathway of the health and social care framework and the care leadership and management framework as a whole Comparator frameworks selected by number of starts in 2014/15 7

Chart 1.2: Apprenticeship starts in social care and other frameworks, 2014/15 *Social care includes the social care pathway of the health and social care framework and the care leadership and management framework as a whole As shown in table 1.3, the majority (71%) of starting apprentices in 2014/15 were aged 25 years and over (an increase on the 64% in 2013/14). Those starters aged between 19 and 24 years made up around a quarter of the total (24%, down from 29% in 2013/14) and those under 19 make up 5% of the total (7% in 2013/14). The vast majority of the year-on-year rise in people starting Apprenticeships in social care can be attributed to those aged 25 and over; in 2014/5 there were an extra 20,000 starting apprentices in this age group. This is further evidence to suggest that the removal of the loan scheme in February 2014 (discussed above) lead to greater numbers of over 24 s starting Apprenticeships. Social care appears to have an older age profile than for Apprenticeships generally. In 2014/15 a quarter of all people starting Apprenticeships were aged under 19 compared to only 5% in social care. Conversely, around 43% of all starters were aged 25 and over compared to 71% in social care. The care leadership and management framework has an older age profile than the social care portion of the joint framework; around 9 in 10 starters were aged 25 or over in 2014/15. This would be expected as this framework is at a higher level than the health and social care framework and it is 8

generally expected that people starting an Apprenticeship on the care leadership and management framework will have experience of working in a care setting. Table 1.3: Apprenticeship starts in social care by age, 2013/14 to 2014/15 Social Care (H&SC) Care Leadership and Management Social care total 2013/14 2014/15 2013/14 2014/15 2013/14 2014/15 Base 62,100 78,100 3,300 8,500 65,400 86,600 Number Under 19 4,700 4,400 <50 <50 4,700 4,400 19 to 24 18,600 20,000 300 700 18,900 20,800 25 and over 38,800 53,700 2,900 7,800 41,700 61,400 % Under 19 8% 6% 0% 0% 7% 5% 19 to 24 30% 26% 11% 9% 29% 24% 25 and over 63% 69% 89% 91% 64% 71% The social care pathway is a subset of the health and social care framework Data in this table are rounded Chart 1.3: Apprenticeship starts in social care by age, 2013/14 to 2014/15 Table 1.4 shows all social care starts by Apprenticeship level. As discussed above, there was a large increase in care leadership and management in 2014/15, resulting in higher Apprenticeships making up a greater proportion of the total in 2014/15 (10%) than in 2013/14 (5%). There was also an increase in the total number of starts between years at both intermediate and advanced levels (3,000 and 13,000 more respectively). In 2013/14, intermediate starts made up around two thirds of the social care portion of the health and social care framework. Despite showing an increase in absolute terms, 9

intermediate starts decreased as a proportion of the total due to the large increase in starts at advanced level. Taken together, these figures suggest a general shift towards advanced and higher level starts which is likely linked to the shift towards older starters. The link between Apprenticeship level and age is supported by the figures presented in table 1.5; higher Apprenticeships are made up primarily of older people (25+) whereas intermediate and advanced level apprentices have a younger age profile. Table 1.4: Apprenticeship starts in social care by level, 2013/14 to 2014/15 Social Care (H&SC) Care Leadership and Management Social care total 2013/14 2014/15 2013/14 2014/15 2013/14 2014/15 Base 62,100 78,100 3,300 8,500 65,400 86,600 Number Intermediate 40,500 43,300 - - 40,500 43,300 Advanced 21,700 34,800 - - 21,700 34,800 Higher - - 3,300 8,500 3,300 8,500 % Intermediate 65% 55% - - 62% 50% Advanced 35% 45% - - 33% 40% Higher - - 100% 100% 5% 10% The social care pathway is a subset of the health and social care framework Data in this table are rounded Table 1.5: Apprenticeship starts in social care by age group and level, 2014/15 Social care total Intermediate Advanced Higher Base 43,300 34,800 8,500 Number Under 19 3,500 900 <50 19 to 24 11,700 8,300 700 25 and over 28,000 25,600 7,800 % Under 19 8% 3% 0% 19 to 24 27% 24% 9% 25 and over 65% 74% 91% The social care pathway is a subset of the health and social care framework Data in this table are rounded In 2014/15 around 16% of people starting Apprenticeships in social care were of Black Minority Ethnic (BME) backgrounds. This proportion is greater than in 2013/14 (13%). The ethnicity make-up of 10

starting apprentices across all frameworks is less diverse as only 11% of starters were of non-white ethnicity. However, the BME proportion of starters on all frameworks has been increasing consistently since 2002/03 when it was 3% 6. The majority of starting apprentices were female (72,900; 84%), the same proportion as in 2013/14. This is similar to the adult social care workforce as a whole, where 82% of workers are female 7. Comparing this to the gender split for all Apprenticeships, females appear to be generally more likely than males to undertake an Apprenticeship (53%) but to a much lesser degree than in social care. Around 15% of people starting Apprenticeships in 2014/15 were working in the North West region. This is approximately twice as many as in the North East (8%). The regional make-up of starters in social care closely matches that of all frameworks. It should be acknowledged that these regions are substantially different in terms of population size, as shown in table 1.6. Most regions are similar in terms of proportion of people starting Apprenticeships compared to the population, although there are a few exceptions. Around 17% of the economically active (working age) population live in London, compared to only 9% of people starting social care Apprenticeships (percentage difference of -8%). Therefore, London is under-represented in terms of social care apprentices. This is not the case for the North East and West Midlands, where social care apprentices are more highly represented (both +3%). The North East region has the highest number of starting apprentices relative to working age population. Table 1.6: Apprenticeship starts in social care and economically active population by region, 2014/15 ; Office for National Statistics Economically active population Number % Number % Total 27,873,000 * 86,600 * * Total (known) 27,873,000 * 86,400 * * Eastern 3,137,000 11% 8,700 10% -1% East Midlands 2,334,000 8% 8,200 9% +1% London 4,645,000 17% 7,900 9% -8% North East 1,291,000 5% 6,700 8% +3% North West 3,556,000 13% 13,000 15% +2% South East 4,637,000 17% 11,700 14% -3% South West 2,828,000 10% 9,800 11% +1% West Midlands 2,770,000 10% 11,300 13% +3% Yorkshire and the Humber 2,675,000 10% 9,100 11% +1% Not allocated 0 * 200 * * The social care pathway is a subset of the health and social care framework Data in this table are rounded Social care apprenticeship starts 2014/15 Percentage difference 6 This trend may extend further than 2002/03 but SFA data are not available prior to this time. 7 http://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/nmds-sc-intelligence/nmds-sc/workforce-data-and-publications/state-of-the-adultsocial-care-sector.aspx 11

Map 1.1: Apprenticeship starts in social care by region, 2014/15 12

2. Leavers and achievements Almost 32,000 social care apprentices achieved their learning aim in 2014/15, 7% more than in 2013/14. Social care apprenticeship achievements made up 12% of all achievements (260,900). The achievement rate of apprentices increased slightly to 79%. The total number of people leaving and achieving in social care Apprenticeships are described in this section alongside success rates, the proportion of all people who left having achieved their learning aim. Table 2.1 shows the number of achievements in the health and social care joint framework, the social care pathway and the care leadership and management framework. In 2014/15, achievements from the social care pathway of the health and social care framework totalled 30,700, a 4% increase since 2013/14. Achievements from the care leadership and management framework increased from 300 in 2013/14 to 1,100 in 2014/15. In total there were 31,800 social care achievements in 2014/15, a 7% increase since 2013/14. This trend of rising achievements follows the trend of all frameworks, which rose from 252,900 in 2012/13 to 255,800 in 2013/14 and then again to 260,900 in 2014/15. Table 2.1: Apprenticeship achievements across all frameworks and in social care time series 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2013/14 to 2014/15 % change Social Care 25,300 29,500 30,700 4% Care Leadership and Management 0 300 1,100 256% All social care achievements 25,300 29,800 31,800 7% All social care achievements % of total 10% 12% 12% * All frameworks 252,900 255,800 260,900 2% Figures prior to 2013/14 were derived from SCALE Consultants apprenticeship reports The social care pathway is a subset of the health and social care framework Data in this table have been rounded Table 2.2 shows all Apprenticeship achievements by framework and by age group. Of the 31,800 achievements recorded in 2014/15, the vast majority (22,200) were aged 25 years or over. This is an increase of around 1,400 since 2013/14. There were 8,800 achieving learners aged between 19 and 24 years, an increase of 500 since 2013/14. Younger achievers (under 19 years) totalled 800, the 13

same as last year. The proportional make-up of achievements by age group was the same in 2014/15 as in 2014/15. There was an evident difference in the age profile of achievers by Apprenticeship framework, whereby achievers from the care leadership and management framework were generally older than those leaving the social care pathway of the joint framework. This matches the age profile of starts by framework and there does not appear to have been any substantial change between 2013/14 and 2014/15. Table 2.2: Apprenticeship achievements in social care by age, 2013/14 to 2014/15 Social Care (H&SC) 2013/14 2014/15 2013/14 2014/15 2013/14 2014/15 Base 29,500 30,700 300 1,100 29,800 31,800 Number Under 19 800 800 <50 <50 800 800 19 to 24 8,200 8,800 <50 100 8,300 8,800 25 and over 20,500 21,100 300 1,100 20,800 22,200 % Under 19 3% 3% 0% 0% 3% 3% 19 to 24 28% 29% 13% 5% 28% 28% 25 and over 69% 69% 88% 95% 70% 70% The social care pathway is a subset of the health and social care framework Data in this table are rounded Care Leadership and Management Social care total Table 2.3 shows achievements by framework and level. Around 19,200 achievements were from intermediate level Apprenticeships. This is around 4,000 more than in 2013/14. Advanced level achievements totalled 11,500 (a decrease of 2,400 since 2013/14) and higher level achievements increased by approximately 800 to 1,100 in 2014/15. Proportionally, intermediate achievements rose from 52% of the total to 60% at the expense of advanced level achievements, which fell from 46% to 36% of the total. 14

Table 2.3: Apprenticeship achievements in social care by level, 2013/14 to 2014/15 Social Care (H&SC) Care Leadership and Management 2013/14 2014/15 2013/14 2014/15 2013/14 2014/15 Base 29,500 30,700 300 1,100 29,800 31,800 Number Intermediate 15,600 19,200 - - 15,600 19,200 Advanced 13,900 11,500 - - 13,900 11,500 Higher - - 300 1,100 300 1,100 % Intermediate 53% 62% - - 52% 60% Advanced 47% 38% - - 46% 36% Higher - - 100% 100% 1% 4% The social care pathway is a subset of the health and social care framework Data in this table are rounded Social care total The success rate (proportion of all leavers who achieved their learning aim) of social care apprentices was 79% in 2014/15. Although the SFA do publish data on Apprenticeship success rates, the most recent period available at the time of this report for comparison purposes is the 2011/12 academic year. To give context to the 79% achievement rate for 2014/15 in social care (with the acknowledgement that figures from the same time period are not available for all frameworks), the achievement rate for all Apprenticeships ranged between 71 76% over the period covering 2008/09 and 2011/12 academic years. Skills Funding Agency figures on achievement rates for all frameworks show no significant and consistent difference between Apprenticeship levels. As above, there is no evidence to suggest that a learner at one Apprenticeship level is more likely to achieve their learning aim than on another level. Furthermore, there was little difference in success rates in social care Apprenticeships by ethnic group, gender or region of leavers. Overall, the analysis conducted for this report finds little evidence of any driving factor behind achievement rates they are similar across all reported factors. 15

3. Participation Skills for Care estimates that there were as many as 150,000 apprentices working in social care over the course of the 2014/15 academic year. This is around 17% of the total number of participating apprentices (872,000). Estimated trends show that the number of working social care apprentices has been increasing at a steady rate since 2010/11 as well as increasing relative to all working apprentices. This section describes the total number of people who participated in a social care Apprenticeship between August 2014 and July 2015. This is a new area of reporting for Skills for Care for the 2014/15 report and as such, retrospective trends for apprentices in social care have been estimated. The SFA publish participation statistics describing working apprentices for all frameworks and for groups of frameworks but not for individual frameworks. These figures describe any apprentice who was onprogramme at any point during the year; they do not represent the total number of apprentices in employment at any given point. The methodology developed by Skills for Care to report on participation (using ILR data) has been compared to participation estimates derived from SFA statistical releases (sector subject area Health, Public Services and Care ratio of starts to participation was applied to social care starts as described above). Both methodologies produce similar figures and so in this report, the methodology developed by Skills for Care is used. During academic year 2014/15 there were an estimated 145,700 on-programme apprentices in social care, an increase of 13% since 2013/14. This figure reflects the total over a period of time (August 2014 July 2015) and so the actual number of working apprentices at any given time would be lower. The total number of participating apprentices across all frameworks was 871,800, a slight increase since 2013/14. Social care apprentices account for 17% of this figure, a proportion that has been increasing steadily since 2010/11 (see chart 3.1). As discussed in the starts section above, social care Apprenticeships are growing at a faster rate than Apprenticeships across all frameworks. 16

Table 3.1: Working apprenticeship across all frameworks and in social care time series 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2013/14 to 2014/15 % change All social care apprentices 66,900 97,300 121,000 128,800 145,700 13% All social care apprentices % of total 10% 12% 14% 15% 17% - All participating apprentices 665,900 806,500 868,700 851,500 871,800 2% The social care pathway is a subset of the health and social care framework Data in this table are rounded Social care apprentices for 2010/11, 2011/12 and 2012/13 were estimated using Skills Funding Agency statistical appendices Chart 3.1: Working apprentices across all frameworks and in social care time series Generally, the make-up of working social care apprentices by such factors as demographics, level and location are similar to the corresponding proportions for people starting Apprenticeships in 2014/15. This is because participation reflects the cumulative amount of Apprenticeship starts over recent years. The composition of on-programme apprentices by age group for 2014/15 (table 3.2) is similar to that of Apprenticeship starters: around 7 in 10 were aged 24 years or older, a quarter were aged between 19 and 24 years and 4% were under 19 years. This age make-up was not substantially different in 2013/14. Also similar to Apprenticeship starts, learners on the care leadership and management framework were generally older than those on the social care pathway Apprenticeships. 17

Table 3.2: Working apprentices in social care by age, 2013/14 to 2014/15 Social Care (H&SC) Care Leadership and Management 2013/14 2014/15 2013/14 2014/15 2013/14 2014/15 Base 123,200 133,200 5,600 12,500 128,800 145,700 Number Under 19 6,200 5,900 <50 <50 6,200 5,900 19 to 24 34,400 34,800 500 1,000 34,900 35,800 25 and over 82,600 92,500 5,100 11,500 87,700 104,000 % Under 19 5% 4% 0% 0% 5% 4% 19 to 24 28% 26% 9% 8% 27% 25% 25 and over 67% 69% 91% 92% 68% 71% The social care pathway is a subset of the health and social care framework Data in this table are rounded Social care total Table 3.3 shows that more than half of all on-programme apprentices in social care were learning at intermediate level. Around 4 in 10 were at advanced level and those on the care leadership and management framework (higher level) made up around 9%. This latter group displayed a large proportional increase between 2013/14 and 2014/15, as discussed above in the starters section. There was little change between years in the level make-up of on-programme apprentices on the social care pathway of the joint framework. Table 3.3: Working apprentices in social care by level, 2013/14 to 2014/15 Social Care (H&SC) Care Leadership and Management Social care total 2013/14 2014/15 2013/14 2014/15 2013/14 2014/15 Base 123,200 133,200 5,600 12,500 128,800 145,700 Number Intermediate 68,300 74,400 - - 68,300 74,400 Advanced 54,900 58,800 - - 54,900 58,800 Higher - - 5,600 12,500 5,600 12,500 % Intermediate 55% 56% - - 53% 51% Advanced 45% 44% - - 43% 40% Higher - - 100% 100% 4% 9% The social care pathway is a subset of the health and social care framework Data in this table are rounded In 2014/15 around 22,000 apprentices were employed in the North West (15%), more than any other region. The fewest number of apprentices were employed in the North East (8%). The 2013/14 18

regional make-up is slightly different for some regions. The smallest region in terms of working apprentices was London (9%). The regional make-up of the total number of apprentices closely matches that of people starting Apprenticeships in 2014/15; the same comparisons to the working age population can be drawn for on-programme apprentices whereby London is under-represented (-8%) and the North East and West Midlands are over-represented (+3%). Table 3.4: Working apprentices in social care and economically active population by region, 2014/15 ; Office for National Statistics Number % Number % Total 27,873,000 * 145,700 * * Total (known) 27,873,000 * 145,300 * * Eastern 3,137,000 11% 14,500 10% -1% East Midlands 2,334,000 8% 13,400 9% +1% London 4,645,000 17% 13,300 9% -8% North East 1,291,000 5% 11,800 8% +3% North West 3,556,000 13% 21,800 15% +2% South East 4,637,000 17% 19,700 14% -3% South West 2,828,000 10% 16,500 11% +1% West Midlands 2,770,000 10% 18,600 13% +3% Yorkshire and the Humber 2,675,000 10% 15,700 11% +1% Not allocated 0 * 400 * * Data in this table are rounded Economically active population Social care apprentices 2014/15 Percentage difference The composition of working apprentices by gender (female, 84%; male, 16%) and ethnicity (white, 85%; BME, 15%) in 2014/15 show little difference to 2013/14. They are also very similar to the corresponding composition of starting apprentices, which would be expected for the reasons outlined above (that apprentice participation reflects cumulative starts over recent years). Moreover, these proportions are comparable to the adult social care workforce as a whole where 82% of workers are female and 8 out of 10 workers are white. Social care apprentices do not differ substantially to the adult social care sector as a whole in terms of gender and ethnicity. 19

Conclusion Continuing the trend that has been apparent since around 2008/09, the total number of people starting a social care Apprenticeship in 2014/15 increased, reaching 86,600 starts. Social care has been the largest Apprenticeship framework since 2011/12. In 2014/15 there were 38,000 more people starting Apprenticeships in social care than the next largest framework (business administration). Similarly, care leadership and management was the largest higher Apprenticeship framework, accounting for 43% of all 20,000 higher level starts. The market share of all Apprenticeship starts held by social care also continues to increase; social care accounted for 17% of all Apprenticeship starts (500,000) in 2014/15. This is because the number of people starting an Apprenticeship in social care is increasing at a faster rate than starts across all frameworks (the total increase for social care starts was 32% between 2013/14 and 2014/15, much higher than the top-level increase of 14%). Some of the growth in social care Apprenticeship numbers can be attributed to the care leadership and management framework, which saw a year-on-year increase of 158% (3,300 starts in 2013/14; 8,500 starts in 2014/15). This large increase provides evidence that people undertake an Apprenticeship in social care not only as a means to gain training and knowledge in the direct provision of care but also to develop the specialised competence in the management of how care is delivered. Another explanatory factor behind the large increase in social care starts related to change in the funding of Apprenticeships by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills that was in place between August 2013 and February 2014. Funding of Apprenticeships for people aged 24 years and over was available only in the form of loans. This lead to a reduction in the number of people starting Apprenticeships during this period and therefore explains some of the rise in take-up in 2014/15. This can be evidenced by comparing the age composition of starters between years; there were 20,000 more starters aged 25 and over in 2014/15 compared to 2013/14. The number of starters aged under 25 increased by around 2,000. The shift towards older starters in 2014/15 is linked to the level of learners, whereby advanced and higher level Apprenticeship starts showed a large increase (18,000) compared to the relatively small increase in intermediate level starts (3,000). In 2014/15 the number of people achieving their learning aim in social care Apprenticeships totalled around 32,000. This is a 7% increase on the 30,000 in 2013/14. Achievements across all frameworks totalled around 261,000 which was a 2% increase on the previous year. The success rate of social care leavers was 79% in 2014/15. Although no comparable figures are available for this period, the success rate for apprentices across all frameworks ranged from 71% and 76% between 2008/09 and 2011/12. Barring any substantial shift in the top-level success rate in more recent years, this would 20

indicate that the success rate of social care apprentices is not substantially different to apprentices in general. The composition of achievers by demographic and geographic factors was approximately the same as starting apprentices and showed little change since 2013/14. There was, however, a shift in the levels at which learners were achieving since 2013/14. Around 4,000 more people achieved at intermediate level in 2014/15 (19,000) compared to 2013/14. The number of people who achieved at advanced level decreased by around 2,000 between years to a total of 11,500. The total number of people who were on an Apprenticeship programme at some point during the 2014/15 academic year was around 146,000. This is 17% of the total number of on-programme apprentices across all frameworks (872,000). Because participation measures reflect cumulative starts over recent years, the demographic and geographic composition of participating apprentices does not differ from starters in 2014/15. Estimates are not currently available describing the total number of apprentices at any one period. However, Skills for Care is investigating this as a potential addition to reporting in future. 21

Published by Skills for Care This report has been published using data from the Skills Funding Agency and the National Minimum Data Set for Social Care. To receive updates visit www.skillsforcare.org.uk and Register. Tick Workforce Intelligence under areas of interest to be added to our mailing list. Data analysis services: Because we ve been working with data from the NMDS-SC and other sources for over 8 years, our expert analysts can help you investigate, analyse and discover a specific business or social workforce issue using our analysis services. Contact analysis@skillsforcare.org.uk or call 0113 2410969 for more information. Skills for Care West Gate 6 Grace Street Leeds LS1 2RP Telephone: 0113 245 1716 Email: analysis@skillsforcare.org.uk Web: www.skillsforcare.org.uk Twitter: @sfc_nmds_sc 22