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Week 16 saw a marginal upturn. It remains to be seen whether this is a watershed moment or just another false dawn, but there does seem to be a gradual upward trend.   

Each week I’ve been comparing the number of new higher and degree apprenticeship vacancies in England posted since the day ‘lockdown’ started on 23^rd March 2020 with the numbers for the corresponding number of weeks pre-lockdown, whilst also building up an occupational and regional analysis. The data is generally sourced from vacancies advertised nationally on the government ‘Find an apprenticeship’ website, excluding any vacancies that I perceive as unsuitable for an 18-year-old school or college leaver. The stats provide a sketch rather than a valid set of data. However, as each week passes, I find that they become increasingly useful in guidance.

During the latest week, from 6^th to 10^th July, I recorded:

• 34 new degree apprenticeship vacancies and
• 27 new higher apprenticeship vacancies

The overall comparison pre- and post-lockdown now looks like this:

• In the 16 weeks immediately prior to ‘lockdown’ (2^nd December to 20^th March) I recorded: 1,766 new degree apprenticeships and 1,148 new higher apprenticeships, giving a total of 2,914 and an average of 182 new vacancies each week.
• In the 16 weeks since the start of lockdown (23^rd March to 10^th July) I have recorded: 375 new degree apprenticeships and 311 new higher apprenticeships, giving a total of 686 and an average of 43 new vacancies each week.

This represents a 76.5% reduction in vacancies post-lockdown compared with pre-lockdown. It still means that the number of new DAs and HAs has been slashed by more than three quarters, but it’s a marginal improvement on last week.

Updated regional analysis

Another positive sign is that the 686 higher and degree apprenticeships advertised in England since the start of lockdown have been distributed widely across most of England. The precise figures are as follows. They include a slight tweak whereby I’m now using ‘ceremonial counties’ as the descriptor, except for Greater London, Greater Manchester, West Midlands, Merseyside and Tyne & Wear:

• Greater London (131)
• Yorkshire (50)
• Hertfordshire (46)
• Surrey (45)
• Greater Manchester (36)
• Hampshire (36)
• Essex (33)
• West Midlands (27)
• Gloucestershire (26)
• Suffolk (20)
• Tyne & Wear (19)
• Nottinghamshire (19)
• Sussex (18)
• Berkshire (17)
• Cheshire (16)
• Lancashire (14)
• Merseyside (12)
• Devon (12)
• Bedfordshire (10)
• Warwickshire (9)
• Cambridgeshire (9)
• Oxfordshire (9)
• Kent (9)
• Derbyshire (7)
• Leicestershire (7)
• Somerset (7)
• Cumbria (5)
• Durham* (5)
• Shropshire (5)
• Staffordshire (5)
• Worcestershire (4)
• Buckinghamshire (4)
• Norfolk (3)
• Northamptonshire (3)
• Cornwall (3)
• Lincolnshire (2)
• Herefordshire (1)
• Wiltshire (1)
• Dorset (1)

This is how those stats add up in regional terms. In brackets I’ve added the total population of each region in millions, which puts the apprenticeship figures into a little more perspective. For example, although the South East is top and the North East is bottom, in population terms they’re also the largest and smallest regions respectively, so the divergence isn’t quite as stark as it first appears:

• 138 South East (9.1)
• 131 London (8.9)
• 121 East of England (6.2)
•   83 North West (7.3)
•   51 West Midlands (5.9)
•   50 Yorkshire & Humber (5.4)
•   50 South West (5.6)
•   38 East Midlands (4.8)
•   24 North East* (2.7)

I continue to asterisk Durham and the North East because of Durham Constabulary’s Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship, which wasn’t advertised nationally nor was the precise number of vacancies notified, but it could have made a significant difference.

Updated occupational analysis

Each week I update my occupational analysis by breaking down the new vacancies into what I loosely term ‘occupational areas’, which in some cases differ slightly from the official apprenticeship standards terminology. Since lockdown, the complete lists of occupational areas represented in each category are now as follows. They are listed in league table format:

Degree & Level 7 apprenticeships:

In total there have been 375 new vacancies spread across 32 occupational areas and minimum starting salaries have ranged from £7,830 to £27,665pa.  

1^st Digital Technology Solutions* (current total = 92)

2^nd Accountancy or Taxation

3^rd Financial Services

4^th Electrical/Electronic Engineers

5^th= Civil Engineers

5^th= Data Scientists & Analysts

7^th Chartered Management (general)

8^th Retail Management (all with Morrisons)

9^th= Chartered Surveyors

9^th= Control Engineers

11^th Healthcare Scientists

12^th Broadcast & Media Systems Engineers

13^th Business to Business Sales Professionals

14^th Laboratory Scientists

15^th= Chemical Engineers

15^th= Food Technologists

15^th= Packaging Technologists

15^th= Town Planners

19^th= Building Services Design Engineers

19^th= Environmental Health Practitioners

19^th= Environmental Practitioners

19^th= Mechanical, Product Design & Development Engineers

19^th= User Experience (UX) Professionals

24^th= Building Control Surveyors

24^th= Cyber Security Technologists

24^th= Materials Scientists

24^th= Supply Chain Leadership

28^th= Digital Marketing

28^th= Geospatial Mapping Surveyor

28^th= Manufacturing Engineer

28^th= Marketing Management

28^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).

Normally Police Constables would also figure prominently in this table because of the “Durham factor” and the likelihood that some other police forces have or will be actively recruiting degree apprentices too. However, to the best of my knowledge none have advertised their schemes outside the immediate local area.

Higher apprenticeships:

In total there have been 311 new vacancies spread across 31 occupational areas and minimum starting salaries have ranged from £6,474 to £29,000pa.

1^st Software Developers (current total = 64)

2^nd Manufacturing Engineering Technicians

3^rd Data Analysts

4^th Buying, Merchandising & Supply Chain

5^th= Accounting Technicians

5^th= Project Management

7^th Science Laboratory Technicians

8^th= Broadcast & Media Systems Technicians

8^th= Network Engineers

10^th= Electrical/Electronic Engineering Technicians

10^th= Nursing Associates (Mental Health)

12^th Software Testers

13^th= Investment Consultants

13^th= Sales Executives

15^th Information Systems Business Analysts

16^th Cyber Security Technologists

17^th Insurance Professionals

18^th= Financial Paraplanners/Advisers

18^th= Policy Officers

20^th= Children, Young People & Family Practitioners

20^th= Food Technologists

20^th= Hospitality Management

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

20^th= Learning & Skills Teachers

20^th= Public Relations 

20^th= Quantity Surveying Technicians

20^th= Regulatory Compliance Officers

28^th= Civil Engineering Technician

28^th= IT Support Professional  

28^th= Operations Management

28^th= Revenue & Benefits Officer

Going forward

I intend to post at least one more Monday update this month.

© Alan Bullock, 13/7/2020