Multiverse has become England’s largest revenue-generating apprenticeship provider for the first time, overtaking Kaplan.
Latest Department for Education figures show Multiverse earned £58.9 million from apprenticeship training between April 2023 and March 2024 – up from £44.1 million and fourth place the previous year.
It beat QA Limited and Lifetime Training, which recorded revenues of £53.3 million and £53.1 million respectively. Kaplan, which topped the charts in both 2021-22 and 2022-23, slipped to fourth place with £52.8 million.
BPP Professional Education remained close behind in fifth with £51.9 million, while Corndel also saw strong growth, reaching sixth place on £42.9 million.
The figures, published on Wednesday, reveal a highly competitive market among the top five providers, with just £7 million separating them.
Multiverse, founded by former prime minister Tony Blair’s son Euan Blair (pictured) in 2016, mainly delivers tech-related apprenticeships with relatively high funding bands from levels 3 to 6. Its total starts numbers grew from 5,770 in 2022-23 to 7,910 in 2023-24.
Blair’s provider continues to attract national media attention following the company’s failed expansion into America and take-up of artificial intelligence, which boosted turnover but increased the company’s losses to £60.5 million.
Multiverse is the only firm in the 10 highest earning apprenticeship provider list to hold an ‘outstanding’ Ofsted rating. The other nine are judged ‘good’.
Another notable change in the top 10 list for 2023-24 was the rise of Paragon Education and Skills Limited, which was acquired by Knovia Group in September 2023.
Paragon’s apprenticeship revenue rose from £16,396,400 to £21,613,629, moving the firm from 16th to 10th.
Lifetime Training continued to lead on volume with 16,330 starts.
Public sector providers also feature in the top 10, with the British Army drawing down £35.1 million and the Royal Air Force £21.7 million.
The Open University was the highest earning university, placing 14th with £18.8 million, while the college that generated the most from apprenticeships in 2023-24 was Bridgwater & Taunton College, placing 29th with £12.8 million.
The figures come amid ongoing scrutiny of the balance between higher-level and traditional apprenticeships, as costly level 6 and 7 programmes continue to account for a large share of the apprenticeship budget.
Level 7 apprenticeships will be removed from levy funding from January for people aged 22 and older, which is likely to have a significant impact on apprenticeship revenue generated for providers including Kaplan, BPP and Corndel.
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