About the Rankings

The Sunday Times Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers recognises the UK's leading employers, from a wide range of industries & business sectors, that do the most to provide successful apprenticeships for their employees.

First produced by High Fliers Research in 2020, the annual rankings are entirely data-driven and employers are ranked according to the number of apprentices they employ, their new apprenticeship starts, the diversity of their new apprentices, and the number of apprentices who complete their apprenticeships successfully.

Entries for 2026 are now open and the new rankings will be showcased in a special 16-page supplement in The Sunday Times in the summer of 2026, sponsored by BPP.

With more than 15 million readers each month, The Sunday Times – in print and online – will introduce the next generation of apprentices to the UK’s top apprenticeship employers and help inspire more organisations to invest in high-quality apprenticeships.

Entering in 2026

Entries are open to apprenticeship employers with a minimum of 100 employees in the UK, that employ 10 apprentices or more in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.

Employers complete the official entry form Employers complete a short entry form, providing the following key information:

• their total number of UK employees and the number of employees who are currently on apprenticeship programmes
• how many apprentices started an apprenticeship between 1st January and 31st December 2025 (including those recruited externally and existing employees) and at which level of apprenticeship
• the diversity of apprentices who began apprenticeships during 2025 (including apprentices' gender, age, ethnicity and learning difficulties & disabilities)
• the number of apprentices who successfully completed their apprenticeships in the past year

Once the entry has been submitted, employers take part in follow-up data checks by telephone or email to confirm and verify the information provided. Each entry is then independently assessed, scored, and weighted according to the size of the employer's UK workforce.

The one hundred employers with the highest scores for 2026 will be featured in The Sunday Times in the summer.

Every employer entering will receive full feedback on their entry, benchmarking their apprenticeship programmes with other entrants, and will be ranked within their own industry or employment sector.

All participating employers will receive 5 annual digital subscriptions to The Times & Sunday Times – and will be invited to an exclusive programme of apprenticeship workshops later in the year.

The entry fee for The Sunday Times Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers in 2026 is £495+VAT.

The entry deadline for the 2026 rankings is 5pm on Friday 20th March.