§ 76. Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the level of industrial apprentices taken on in 1979 as compared with 1987.
§ Mr. NichollsInformation from the youth cohort study indicates that nearly 80,000 young people in England and Wales who reached minimum school-leaving age in the 475W academic year 1984–85 were undertaking an apprenticeship in spring 1986. This is an underestimate as some of the young people in the survey were unsure of their apprenticeship status and none of these have been included. In addition, some other young people will have been taken on as apprentices when older. Corresponding information for spring 1987 is not yet available. Information from the new entrants to employment survey indicates that just over 90,000 young people in England and Wales who reached minimum school-leaving age in the academic year 1978–79 had by the end of 1979 entered an apprenticeship in their first employment.