TfL Ref: FOI-2326-245

Thank you for your request which we received on 21 October 2024, asking for information about TfL’s apprenticeships.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.  I can confirm that we hold some of the information you require. You specifically requested: 

1. What is the number of Engineering and London Underground who have commenced a rail apprenticeship for each year since 2014?

2. What is the number of Engineering and London Underground rail apprentices taken into employment by Transport for London or a subsidiary for each year since 2014?

Please note the number of employees for years 2021 and 2022 is incomplete and subject to increase because the roll off is not complete yet.

3. What is the number of female Engineering and London Underground rail apprentices for each year since 2014?

Please note where the number of employees in this category contain a small figure (10 or less), disclosure could potentially identify specific individuals within the department. We therefore consider that these figures are exempt from disclosure under section 40(2) of the FOI Act as disclosure of these exact figures would be a breach of the first data protection principle. This information constitutes sensitive personal data as defined in section 2 of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) and was provided in confidence for monitoring purposes. These individuals would have a reasonable expectation that the information would not be disclosed in a manner that would identify any particular person and it would be unfair to them to do so. Therefore, what we have done is replace any cells containing the values 1 to 10 with ‘<10’, as we consider that it would not be fair to provide this level of data. 

4. What is the number of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds Engineering and London Underground rail apprentices for each year since 2014?

5. What is the average age of Engineering and London Underground rail apprentices since 2014?

6. What the dropout rates have been of Engineering and London Underground rail apprentices since 2014?

7. How much London Underground spends on apprentice education and training annually and for each year since 2014?

Since 2018 apprentice training has been funded via the TfL Apprentice Levy funds. Unfortunately, we do not hold data prior to this date due to different government co-funding arrangements.

8. Does London Underground use fixed term contracts for apprentices and if so when the use of these contracts began?

Yes, we believe it started in 2012 but we don’t have an exact date. 

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed. 

Yours sincerely

Eva Hextall 

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London