What Works
Apprenticeships impact evaluation
Exploring the impact of apprenticeships on young people’s future employment using LEO data
The system challenge
There is emerging evidence that apprenticeships are linked to higher wages and increased employment rates for young people. But, despite substantial national investment in apprenticeship schemes, robust causal evidence on their effectiveness remains limited.
Our aim
To fill this evidence gap and grow our understanding of what works to help young people in different demographic groups and regions in England into sustainable employment.
What are we doing?
To understand more about the impact and effectiveness of apprenticeships, we’re partnering with King’s College London on a quasi-experimental impact evaluation.
The evaluation will use linked UK administrative data from the Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) database, which provides an opportunity to track education, employment, benefits and earnings insights for young people over time.
We will look at how taking part in an apprenticeship affects employment status at one, three, and five years post-completion in comparison to alternative education or training pathways.
We expect to publish outputs of this work in December 2027.
Meet the partners
The Policy Institute – King’s College London
Evaluation panel, Research & evaluation partner
View partner
What are apprenticeships?
Apprenticeships provide vocational training, focusing on the development of skills required for a specific occupation. They combine paid work and on-the-job training with an employer with off-the-job training supplied by an accredited learning provider such as a college, university, or independent training provider.
They typically last for twelve months or more, and lead to a recognised qualification.
