There has been a large increase in apprenticeship starts in the first half of this academic year in London but the figures remain well below the national average.
Figures from London Datastore show there has been 15% increase since the same time from the previous year.
The number of those undertaking apprenticeships rose by 15% in London from last year compared to England as a whole at 11.9%.
But even with the higher increase London remains well below the national average with 213 fewer starts per 100,000 working age population than the national average.
The increase meant that 3,290 more apprenticeships started in London than the same time the previous year.
As youth unemployment continues to balloon and questions over the viability of university degrees in finding professional employment dwindles, apprenticeships and workplace training has been pushed to the forefront again.
But implementing these changes despite the ever-growing calls for more of these opportunities has been patchy.
The NEET report showed that youth unemployment is at an all time high with more than one million young people aged 16-24 in the UK are not in work,education or training.
The 2024/25 figures for country-wide apprenticeships are up by almost 27,00 from the year at 630,600 but pale in comparison to the number of apprenticeships just under ten years earlier in 2016/17 which saw 713,600 apprenticeship starters.
London in particular has suffered more with rising unemployment rates in the last few quarters.
It has historically seen higher unemployment rates than the rest of the country, the gap between was higher than usual in the last quarter of 2025.
In London the unemployment rate rose to 7.5%, with 2.1% percentage point difference between UK rates.
In the final quarter of 2019 there was only a 0.5 percentage point difference between London and UK rates, according to data from London Datastore
Apprenticeship starts are spread differently across London boroughs with Croydon having the highest with 1,350 starts in the first half the academic year.
But Bexley had the highest starts per 100,00 population with 660.
Business, administration and law was the sector that made up the largest proportion of apprenticeships with over 40% of those started in the first half of the academic year belonging to that sector.
With questions over the future of how young people get into work particularly in London, apprenticeships and work-training style education may continue to see even sharper rises.
Feature Image: WorldSkills
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