The twelfth series of British reality television series The Apprentice (UK) was broadcast in the UK on BBC One, from 6 October to 18 December 2016; due to live coverage of the UK EU membership referendum in late Spring of that year, alongside live coverage of Euro 2016 and the 2016 Rio Olympics during Summer, the BBC postponed the series' broadcast until the middle of Autumn to avoid clashing with these major events.

The eleventh series of British reality television series The Apprentice (UK) was broadcast in the UK on BBC One, from 14 October to 20 December 2015; due to the 2015 General Election being held in Spring, which Alan Sugar had ties to, the BBC postponed the series' broadcast until the middle of Autumn. This series saw Claude Littner, an interviewer during the Interviews stage of a series, being announced as Lord Sugar's new aide, after Nick Hewer made his departure from the programme after the last series. Alongside the standard twelve episodes, with the first two aired within a day of each other, the series was preceded by the mini online episode "Meet the Candidates" on 6 October, with two specials aired alongside the series – "The Final Five" on 9 December, and "Why I Fired Them" on 16 December.