More than 267,400 apprenticeship applications were submitted online between November and January, up 41 per cent from the same period last year.
There are also more vacancies being advertised, with nearly 25,400 apprenticeships available during the same period, up by 26.6 per cent from a year ago.
The most competitive vacancies in terms of the most applications per vacancy were: health pharmacy services, animal care, design, electricians, and vehicle maintenance and repair.
Meanwhile, the most total applications were received in the area of business and administration with 82,290.
Childcare apprenticeship applications were the second most popular with 21,760 applications, followed by customer services (20,520), IT and telecoms (16,840), and hospitality and catering (9,530).
Business and administration also had the most vacancies advertised with 6,460 positions, followed by customer services (2,490) and IT (2,040).
The data has been released alongside a new free app which is aimed at making it easier for students to search available apprenticeships.
Launched by the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS), the AV Search app allows vacancy details to be searched and supplies application and deadline information.
Elsewhere, the data shows that London had the most vacancies during the period, with 3,970 followed by the West Midlands (3,040) and Manchester (2,810).
For more details on the NAS, visit www.apprenticeships.org.uk