The growth of apprenticeship strongly due to the superior, according to the Ministry of Labor

"While in 2018, nearly four out of ten new private apprenticeship contracts prepared for higher education training, this proportion reached six out of ten in 2021", specifies the statistics department of the Ministry of Labor (Dares).

Levels bac +3 or more represent 38% of contracts against 20% in 2018. The share of bac +2 amounts to 22% against 18% three years before.

Dares recalls that 733.200 apprenticeship contracts started in 2021, i.e. 38% more than in 2020.

“Over two years, between 2019 and 2021, the number of entries doubles,” she underlines.

At the end of 2021, the number of apprentices stood at 892.100, i.e. 33% more than at the end of 2020.

For Dares, this growth is explained both by the 2018 reform (which notably liberalized the opening of training centers and extended apprenticeship to 26-29 year olds), as well as by exceptional aid (5.000 euros for hiring a minor, 8.000 euros for an adult) implemented in mid-2020 in response to the Covid-19 health crisis.

This exceptional aid - extended for the moment until the end of 2022 - has contributed to this boom in higher education because higher education courses can be eligible for it, which was not the case with the previous aid to which it was granted. substituted.

As a result, apprentices are getting older. Minors represent only 19% of new contracts in 2021 compared to 37% in 2018.

By sector, the share of the tertiary sector increases by 12 points between 2018 and 2021 to stand at 71%. The share of other sectors is declining: -6 points for industry (to 15% in 2021), -5 points for construction (to 11%).

Dares also notes a feminization of apprenticeship (44% of contracts in 2021 against 34% in 2018) which is not only due to tertiarization. Women thus represent 11% of apprenticeship contracts started in 2021 in construction, compared to 6% in 2018.