Current status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 25 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how much the (a) Scottish Funding Council and (b) Student Awards Agency for Scotland has spent on the delivery of (i) Graduate and (ii) Foundation Apprenticeships in each of the last five years, and what that spend delivered.
Funding
The following tables set out how much the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) and the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) has spent on the delivery of Graduate Apprenticeships (GAs) and Foundation Apprenticeships (FAs) in each of the last 5 complete financial years.
Accountability for, and funding of, Graduate Apprenticeships and Foundation Apprenticeships (delivered through colleges) was passed to the SFC in Academic Year (AY) 2021-22. In the same year SAAS became responsible for funding tuition fees for new GA enrolments.
In this time period, Skills Development Scotland (SDS) also provided funding for FAs and GAs that resulted in enrolments in addition to those below.
Table 1: Split of GA Funding Across SFC and SAAS from 2019-20 to 2023-24
Academic Year | SFC funding (£m) | SAAS funding (£m) |
2019-20 | - | - |
2020-21 | - | - |
2021-22 | 7 | 2 |
2022-23 | 15 | 3 |
2023-24 | 23* | 5 |
*Note: SFC funding for 2023-24 should be treated as notional
Note: Figures are those provided to the Scottish Government by SAAS and SFC and are rounded to the nearest £, million (cash terms)
Table 2: Split of FA Funding Across SFC and SAAS from 2019-20 to 2023-24
Academic Year | SFC funding (£m) | SAAS funding (£m) |
2019-20 | - | - |
2020-21 | - | - |
2021-22 | 9 | - |
2022-23 | 9 | - |
2023-24 | 10 | - |
*Note: SFC funding for 2023/24 should be treated as notional
Note: Figures are those provided to the Scottish Government by SAAS and SFC and are rounded to the nearest £, million (cash terms)
Enrolments resulting from funding
Table 3 and 4 below show the enrolments for FAs and GAs that this funding has delivered.
Table 3: Number of Graduate Apprenticeship (GA) enrolments by academic year funded by SFC/SAAS
Academic Year | GA Enrolments |
2019-20 | - |
2020-21 | - |
2021-22 | 1,165 |
2022-23 | 1,140 |
2023-24 | * |
Source: HESA Student data, SFC Secondary Analysis
Note: GA Enrolments: The number of new apprentices registered on a GA framework at the beginning of each academic year, regardless of entry point.
Note: These figures will not align with the data published in the SDS Modern Apprenticeship Statistics as SDS stats represent a snapshot of enrolments mid-way through the academic year
*Note: As part of official statistic regulations the Scottish Funding Council are unable to share data prior to publication
Table 4: No. of pupils enrolled on a Foundation Apprenticeship (FA) by academic year funded by SFC/SAAS
Academic Year | FA Enrolments |
2019-20 | - |
2020-21 | - |
2021-22 | 2,925 |
2022-23 | 2,485 |
2023-24 | * |
Source: SFC's Further Education Statistics (FES) return.
Note: FA Enrolments: The number of new apprentices registered on a FA or pilot FA framework at the beginning of each academic year, rounded to the nearest five
*Note: As part of official statistic regulations the Scottish Funding Council are unable to share data prior to publication