The Sunday Times Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers 2026 has been announced, offering a valuable snapshot of the organisations leading apprenticeship recruitment and delivery across the UK.
The ranking, produced in partnership with High Fliers Research, recognises employers based on their apprenticeship activity and outcomes. Alongside the countdown, the data shared provides useful insight into the shape of apprenticeship recruitment in 2025, including apprentice demographics, programme levels, employer size, sector representation, new starts and completions.
The Top 10 Apprenticeship Employers 2026
The British Army led the 2026 ranking, with the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force completing the top three. BAE Systems ranked fourth, followed by employers from childcare, professional services, hospitality, healthcare and logistics.
The Top 10 employers named in The Sunday Times Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers 2026 were:
- British Army
- Royal Navy
- Royal Air Force
- BAE Systems
- Busy Bees Nurseries
- Deloitte
- Mitchells and Butlers
- Kids Planet Day Nurseries
- London Ambulance Service NHS Trust
- Amazon
The spread of employers in the Top 10 highlights the breadth of sectors now competing for apprenticeship talent, from the Armed Forces and defence to childcare, professional services, hospitality, healthcare and logistics.
Entry level apprenticeships continue to dominate new starts
One of the clearest messages from the data is that apprenticeships remain a strong early careers pathway.
In 2025, 58% of new apprenticeship starts among the Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers were at entry level. Degree level apprenticeships accounted for 22%, while higher level apprenticeships represented 20%.
For employers, this reinforces the importance of engaging students before they leave school or college. With entry level apprenticeships making up the majority of new starts, organisations that want to attract future apprentices need to be visible while young people are still exploring their options.
The 16 to 24 audience remains central to the apprenticeship pipeline
The age profile supports the continued importance of early engagement.
Among new apprentices in 2025, 64% were aged 16 to 24, while 36% were aged 25 and over.
Apprenticeships continue to serve both young people entering the workforce and adults developing or changing careers, but the data shows that younger applicants remain a major part of the apprenticeship talent pipeline.
For employers, this makes school and college visibility a key part of future workforce planning.
Diversity data highlights the role of apprenticeships in widening access
The diversity data also highlights the reach of apprenticeship programmes.
The median profile of new apprentices among the Top 100 employers showed that 58% were men and 42% were women. In addition, 29% were from an ethnic minority background, while 12% had a learning difficulty or disability.
For organisations focused on widening participation, social mobility and inclusive recruitment, this underlines the value of apprenticeships as a route into employment.
It also shows why clear communication, accessible application routes and early awareness activity remain essential.
Sector data shows where apprentice recruitment was strongest
The sector data showed particularly strong apprentice recruitment activity across the Armed Forces, professional services, health and social care, engineering and industrial, transport, travel and logistics, and childcare.
The Armed Forces recorded the highest number of new apprenticeship starts in 2025, with 9,954 apprentices. Professional services followed with 5,733, ahead of health and social care with 4,517.
Engineering and industrial recorded 3,369 starts, transport, travel and logistics recorded 3,357, and childcare recorded 3,178.
Other sectors also contributed to apprenticeship recruitment, including hospitality with 2,391 starts, retailing with 1,660, banking and finance with 1,305, construction with 1,256, public sector with 1,217, business services with 969, media with 670, technology with 566, energy with 410, trade supplies with 358, education and training with 141, and fine art with 26.
Employer sector representation tells a slightly different story
A separate sector breakdown of employers in the Top 100 showed professional services as the largest sector represented, followed closely by health and social care, construction and childcare.
Retailing, education and training, and hospitality appeared among the smaller sector groups represented.
No percentages were visible on the chart, so these should be treated as visual comparisons rather than exact figures.
This distinction is important. The sector table shows the number of new apprenticeship starts by sector, while the pie chart shows the sector spread of employers within the Top 100. Both are useful, but they measure different things.
High-quality apprenticeship programmes are not limited to the largest employers
The employer size data challenges the idea that leading apprenticeship programmes are only delivered by the biggest organisations.
Among the Top 100 employers, 23% had between 1,001 and 5,000 UK employees. A further 20% had between 10,001 and 25,000 employees, while 18% had 500 employees or fewer.
Employers with more than 25,000 employees accounted for 13% of the Top 100, as did those with 5,001 to 10,000 employees and those with 501 to 1,000 employees.
This spread demonstrates that strong apprenticeship programmes can be delivered by organisations of different sizes, provided there is investment, structure and commitment behind them.
Completion data shows a broad range of programme scale
The completion data also shows a varied picture.
In 2025, 32% of Top 100 employers completed up to 50 apprenticeships, while 24% completed between 101 and 250.
A further 16% completed between 251 and 500, 15% completed between 51 and 100, and 13% completed more than 500.
This shows that apprenticeship success is not defined only by large programme numbers. Smaller and mid-sized programmes also feature strongly among the Top 100.
New start volumes show significant recruitment activity
In terms of new starts, 28% of Top 100 employers recorded between 251 and 500 new apprenticeship starts in 2025.
A further 20% recorded up to 50 starts, 16% recorded 501 to 1,000 starts, 15% recorded 101 to 250 starts, 14% recorded 51 to 100 starts, and 7% recorded more than 1,000 new starts.
This shows a healthy mix of large-scale recruitment and more focused apprenticeship programmes across the ranking.
What this means for employers
For employers, the findings point to three important considerations.
First, apprenticeships remain highly relevant to young people. The majority of new starts were at entry level, and most new apprentices were aged 16 to 24.
Second, competition for future apprentices is spread across many sectors. Students are considering careers in health, construction, professional services, transport, engineering, childcare, hospitality, finance, technology, media and public services.
Third, visibility matters. If employers want to attract the next generation of apprentices, they need to reach students early, explain their opportunities clearly and make their apprenticeship pathways easy to understand.
Apprenticeships are now central to early talent strategy
The Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers 2026 is not just a ranking. It is a reminder that apprenticeships are now a central part of early talent strategy, workforce planning and social mobility.
For employers, the challenge is no longer simply whether to offer apprenticeships. It is whether young people know those opportunities exist.
