Is there an optimum age to be an apprentice? For most people, their image of an apprentice would be a teenage school leaver. Yet, in England, the majority of apprentices are over the age of 19 when they start their apprenticeship, and 40 per cent are 25 or over. This would be very unusual in other European countries. In this article, the authors discuss what lies behind the participation figures and the meaning of apprenticeship for adults. The authors stress that there's no reason to think older workers wouldn't benefit from apprenticeships that helped them learn new skills and progress in their careers. But converting existing workers into apprentices to increase the numbers with qualifications is unlikely to help them fulfil their aspirations. The practice of converting existing employees into apprentices to support the attainment of the government's numerical targets is grossly undermining the concept of apprenticeship as a model of learning. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)