Better news this week

Every Monday since mid-May I’ve been sharing my weekly reflections on the impact COVID-19 has had on the volume of new higher and degree apprenticeship vacancies in England. I also now include a regional analysis that shows the location, by county and region, of all 587 vacancies recorded since ‘lockdown’ started on 23^rd March, as well as a breakdown by occupational area.  

My objective has been to compare the number of new vacancies advertised in England since 23^rd March with the numbers for the corresponding number of weeks pre-lockdown. The data I collect is generally although not exclusively sourced from vacancies advertised nationally on the government ‘Find an apprenticeship’ website. I exclude any vacancies that I perceive as not being appropriate for an 18-year-old school or college leaver.

Some of the students I work with have said they’ve been finding the information very helpful (or ‘incredibly useful’ as one said yesterday), albeit that the statistics provide a sketch rather than a fully valid set of data.  

Headline figures

During the latest week, from 22^nd to 26^th June, I recorded:

• 21 new degree apprenticeship vacancies
• 30 new higher apprenticeship vacancies

With apologies to my regular readers, I have found a significant error in last week’s calculations, but it means that the picture is not as bad as I painted last Monday. The following is an amended and I think reliable comparison of the period pre- and post-lockdown:

In the 14 weeks immediately prior to ‘lockdown’ (16^th December to 20^th March) I recorded:

• 1,224 new degree apprenticeships and 966 new higher apprenticeships giving a total of 2,190 and an average of 156 new vacancies each week.

In the 14 weeks since the start of lockdown (23^rd March to 26^th June) I have recorded:

• 318 new degree apprenticeships and 269 new higher apprenticeships giving a total of 587 and an average of 42 new vacancies each week.

This represents a 73.2% reduction in vacancies post-lockdown compared with pre-lockdown. This is still rather stark, but it’s better than any previous week.  

Regional analysis

The 587 higher and degree apprenticeships advertised in England since the start of lockdown were distributed as follows:

• Greater London (103)
• Hertfordshire (45)
• Yorkshire (43)
• Surrey (43)
• Essex (33)
• Hampshire (33)
• Greater Manchester (30)
• West Midlands (21)
• Suffolk (20)
• Tyne & Wear (16)
• Nottinghamshire (16)
• Lancashire (14)
• Cheshire (13)
• Berkshire (13)
• Merseyside (12)
• Devon (12)
• Bristol (11)
• Bedfordshire (10)
• Oxfordshire (9)
• Gloucestershire (9)
• Sussex (9)
• Kent (8)
• Derbyshire (7)
• Leicestershire (7)
• Warwickshire (7)
• Cambridgeshire (6)
• Somerset (5)
• Cumbria (4)
• Shropshire (4)
• Staffordshire (4)
• Norfolk (3)
• Northamptonshire (3)
• Worcestershire (3)
• Cornwall (3)
• Durham (2)*
• Buckinghamshire (2)
• Lincolnshire (1)
• Herefordshire (1)
• Wiltshire (1)
• Dorset (1)
• Northumberland (0)
• Isle of Wight (0)

With one vacancy in Swindon last week, Wiltshire is now added to the list leaving Northumberland and the Isle of Wight as the only areas yet to record a vacancy.

This is how those stats add up in regional terms. In brackets I have also given the total population of each region, in millions, to put the apprenticeship figures into perspective:

• 117 East of England (6.2)
• 117 South East (9.1)
• 103 London (8.9)
• 73 North West (7.3)
• 43 Yorkshire & Humber (5.4)
• 42 South West (5.6)
• 40 West Midlands (5.9)
• 34 East Midlands (4.8)
• 18 North East* (2.7)

As before I have asterisked Durham and the North East because of Durham Constabulary’s Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship, which wasn’t advertised nationally but which could have made a significant difference.

Updated occupational ‘league tables’

Each week I update my occupational league tables as a way of recording the number of new vacancies in England broken down by what I loosely term ‘occupational areas’, which I find more useful in guidance rather than just using the official apprenticeship standard terminology. Together I think the two league tables provide useful insights into the kinds of professional jobs that are prominent and emerging.

Since lockdown, the occupational areas represented in each category are now as follows (starting with the highest):

Degree & Level 7 apprenticeships:

In total there have been 318 new vacancies spread across 30 occupational areas and minimum starting salaries have ranged from £8,092 to £25,833pa.   

1^st Digital Technology Solutions* (current total = 79)

2^nd Accountancy or Taxation

3^rd Financial Services

4^th Electrical/Electronic Engineers

5^th Chartered Management (general)

6^th= Data Scientists & Analysts

6^th= Retail Management (all at Morrisons)

8^th= Control Engineers

8^th= Civil Engineers

10^th Chartered Surveyors

11^th Broadcast & Media Systems Engineers

12^th Chemical Engineers

13^th Food Technologists

14^th= Building Services Design Engineers

14^th= Environmental Practitioners

14^th= Healthcare Scientists

14^th= Mechanical, Product Design & Development Engineers

14^th= Packaging Technologists

14^th= User Experience (UX) Professionals

20^th= Building Control Surveyors

20^th= Cyber Security Technologists

20^th= Materials Scientists

20^th= Supply Chain Leadership

20^th= Town Planners

25^th= Business to Business Sales Executive

25^th= Environmental Health Practitioner

25^th= Laboratory Scientist

25^th= Manufacturing Engineer

25^th= Marketing Management

25^th= Visual Merchandiser

*Digital Technology Solutions has encompassed a range of specific roles including Software Engineering, Network Engineering, Data Analytics, Cyber Security, Infrastructure Engineering and BIM (Building Information Modelling).

Realistically Police Constables should also figure prominently in this table because of the “Durham factor” and the likelihood that some other police forces are or will be actively recruiting degree apprentices too.

Higher apprenticeships:

In total there have been 269 new vacancies spread across 30 occupational areas and minimum starting salaries have ranged from £6,474 to £29,000pa.

1^st Software Developers (current total = 54)

2^nd Manufacturing Engineering Technicians

3^rd Data Analysts

4^th Buying, Merchandising & Supply Chain

5^th= Project Management

5^th= Science Laboratory Technicians

7^th Accountancy or Taxation

8^th Broadcast & Media Systems Technicians

9^th= Electrical/Electronic Engineering Technicians

9^th= Nursing Associates (Mental Health)

11^th Investment Consultants

12^th= Network Engineers

12^th= Sales Executives

14^th= Information Systems Business Analysts

14^th= Software Testers

16^th Insurance Professionals

17^th= Cyber Security Officers

17^th= Policy Officers

19^th= Children, Young People & Family Practitioners

19^th= Food Technologists

19^th= HR/Learning & Development/Employability Practitioners

19^th= Learning & Skills Teachers

19^th= Financial Paraplanners

19^th= Public Relations 

25^th= Hospitality Management

25^th=   IT Support Professional  

25^th= Operations Management

25^th= Quantity Surveying Technician

25^th= Regulatory Compliance Officer

25^th= Revenue & Benefits Officer

Entry requirements for degree apprenticeships

In terms of UCAS points, the average across all degree apprenticeship vacancies is 106 points (close to BBC or DMM), demonstrating that they are not just the preserve of academic high-flyers.

Going forward

I will continue to observe how it pans out this week and will post further updates if there are interesting developments to report.

© Alan Bullock, 29/6/2020