Apprenticeships in the United Kingdom

Apprenticeships have a long tradition in the United Kingdom, dating back to around the 12th century. They were flourishing by the 14th century and were the major form of training in manufacturing and services in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries. Apprenticeship declined during the Industrial Revolution as large firms and factories emerged, offering other ways to gain skills and more jobs were semi-skilled. They remained important in many occupations, however, throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. In modern times, apprenticeships were formalised in 1964 by act of parliament and they continue to be in widespread use to this day.