About the data
Apprenticeship data shows a steady rise in the number of starts since 2014/15 in Devon. The increases are greater than the those across the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership (Devon, Somerset, Plymouth, Torbay) area, however between 2015/16 and 2016/17 the rate of increase fell from 6.7% down to 2.7%.
Some key areas such as Construction saw strong growth in the number of starts, up by 26.7% to 508 apprentices, however Science and Maths remains low with less than 5 starts in 2016/17. Due to different programme lengths achievements (those completing their apprenticeship programme) cannot directly link to starts, however the number of achievers has remained constant over this period at approximately 4,350 per year, with a marginal fall in 2015/16 to 4,150. An increasing volume of apprentices, and especially achievement, is crucial to meeting the skills gaps identified in the Devon economy.