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Males account for almost three quarters of all apprentices

Date published: 30 January 2026

Topics: Education and skills

New official statistics published today by NISRA statisticians in the Department for the Economy provide details on ApprenticeshipsNI programmes in Further Education Colleges and other training organisations for the 2024/25 academic year.

Key findings

  • There were 7,305 starts in 2024/25, almost half of which were at Level 2 (48%)
  • Level 3 Apprenticeships account for 48% of all those participants starting in the latest academic year.
  • There were 13,324 participants on ApprenticeshipsNI (5,552 at Level 2, 956 at Level 2/3 and 6,816 at Level 3) at the end of October 2025.
  • Electrotechnical, Health and Social Care and Engineering are the three most popular frameworks for the current occupancy quarter.
  • Males account for 72% of current participants. The proportion of male participants is highest in the Level 2/3 Apprenticeship group at 96%.
  • Almost three fifths (59%) of those who left Level 2 Apprenticeships in 2024/25, achieved a Level 2 Framework.
  • Over three fifths (61%) of those who left Level 3 Apprenticeships in 2024/25, achieved a Level 3 Framework.

About this publication

This statistical bulletin is part of a biannual series published by the Department for the economy to provide key information on the ApprenticeshipsNI programme and contains data up to the end of October 2025. 

Supplementary data tables that provide additional breakdowns are available alongside the bulletin. 

Further information

Read the full report: ApprenticeshipsNI Statistical Bulletin

View the data tables and background information: ApprenticeshipsNI statistics August 2019 to October 2025

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