Sta/Medr/06/2025: Further education, work-based learning and community learning, August 2023 to July 2024

Note

Local authority community learning statistics have been removed from this release due to data quality issues. Please see the Quality and methodology information for details on how the data quality issues are being investigated and will be handled.

The data quality issues don’t apply to any community learning data submitted by colleges. Community learning where colleges are the lead provider is still included in this report as part of part-time further education.

Main points

• There were 155,580 learners in further education, apprenticeships or other work-based learning during the 2023/24 academic year.
• Part-time learning numbers are recovering, after a long decline.
• The number of apprenticeships started fell by 5%, compared to the previous year.
• Level 3 apprenticeships are rising, foundation apprenticeships are falling, compared to the previous year.
• More learners are studying at least partly in Welsh.
• There has been an increase in Preparation for Life and Work activities.
• There has been an increase in the percentage of work-based learning taken by learners with ethnic minority backgrounds other than White.
• A levels are less likely to be taken by learners who had experience of deprivation during secondary school.

Learners by learning and provider type

• Description: There were 130,745 learners in colleges. There were 47,855 apprentices, split between colleges and other training providers.
• [Note 1]: Some learners will have studied at multiple provider types.
• Data in Table 1.1 of the accompanying spreadsheet

Further education includes learners studying A levels and other general qualifications, as well as learners studying vocational qualifications (for example BTECs).

‘Other work-based learning’ is made up of transition qualifications for people who work with children in play or childcare settings.