Health, public services and care has ranked second in a study of the UK’s most popular apprenticeships.
The research was carried out by marketing agency School of Marketing using 2021/2022 ONS data to identify the most popular apprenticeships from the past academic year.
Health, public services and care came in second, with more than 30,400 new apprentices starting last year in the field.
The number is a significant increase on the previous, with more than 6,000 extra starts in the space of a year.
The NHS’ apprenticeships programme is currently one of the largest in the apprenticeships industry, with the 2020/21 financial year seeing the programme recruit more than 37,000 apprentices across many subjects.
Business, administration and law was the most popular subject for apprenticeships, with more than 32,800 apprentices starting in the industry the past academic year.
This was an increase of more than 5,000 following the previous academic year. 2021/22 saw more than 130,000 apprentices start in total, with business taking up a large portion.
| Rank | Subject | Starts (21/22) |
| 1 | Business, Administration and Law | 32,800 |
| 2 | Health, Public Services and Care | 30,400 |
| 3 | Engineering and Manufacturing | 22,100 |
| 4 | Construction | 14,900 |
| 5 | Retail and Commercial | 12,900 |
| 6 | Information and Communication Technology | 7,600 |
| 7 | Education and Training | 3,800 |
| 8 | Agriculture, Horticulture and Animal Care | 3,100 |
| 9 | Leisure, Travel and Tourism | 1,700 |
| 10 | Arts, Media and Publishing | 700 |
