Apprenticeship participation for under 19s has fallen since 2010

Following Ed Miliband's speech today on Labour's plans to devolve more power to local towns and cities, the Shadow Minister for Infrastructure Lord Adonis emphasised the impact that these plans would have on increasing jobs and employment.

In particular, he said the changes would improve the creation of youth apprenticeships, criticising the decrease in youth apprenticeships seen under the current government. Speaking on the BBC's Daily Politics, he said:

"The number of youth apprentices, that is apprentices under the age of 19, has actually fallen since 2010"

This is correct - it's down from 203,100 in 2010/11 (or to take the last full year of the Labour government, 186,400 in 2009/10) to 181,300 in 2012/13.

The figures aren't directly comparable due to technical changes, but even accounting for this small change still shows a decrease in numbers.

The under 19s are the only age group not to have followed the trend of a general increase in participation in apprenticeships.

Our previous piece looked at the reasons behind this overall increase - including the concern that companies may be shifting their older employees onto apprenticeships in order to access Government funding. The over 25 age group has seen the biggest increase in apprenticeship participation.