Headlines

There’s good news and bad news this week. The bad news is that just 9 degree apprenticeships were posted in England in Week 18, which is the second worse figure since I started keeping records in Autumn 2018. The only week that was even worse than this was the very first week of lockdown in March.

However, it was higher apprenticeships that saved Week 18 from total ignominy, with an encouraging 42 HAs distributed quite widely both occupationally and regionally. 19 different occupations were covered in the higher apprenticeship data, including 6 ‘new entrants’. Meanwhile, the regional spread stretched from Exeter in the south west to Durham in the north east and took in places like Tilbury, Gloucester, Walsall, Spondon, Wisbech and North Ferriby, plus a PR Assistant in Stafford, a Regulatory Compliance Officer in Nottingham, a Tax Technician in Bishop Auckland, a DevOps Engineer in Durham, 3 Housing Officers in Nottingham and 3 Junior Management Consultants in Chester. So, it was good to see some occupational and regional diversity.

Background

Since ‘lockdown’ started on Monday 23^rd March 2020, I’ve been keeping a record of all new higher and degree apprenticeship vacancies posted in England on the government ‘Find an apprenticeship’ website, excluding any that I perceive as unsuitable for an 18-year-old school or college leaver. I compare the data with the corresponding number of weeks pre-lockdown, whilst also building up an occupational and regional analysis. The overall picture it provides has proved increasingly useful for informing guidance.

Headline stats

During the latest week, from 20^th to 24^th July, I recorded:

• 9 new degree apprenticeship vacancies and
• 42 new higher apprenticeship vacancies

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

• In the 18 weeks prior to lockdown (18^th November to 20^th March) I recorded: 2,108 new degree apprenticeships and 1,304 new higher apprenticeships, giving a total of 3,412 and an average of 190 new vacancies each week.
• In the 18 weeks since the start of lockdown (23^rd March to 10^th July) I have recorded: 406 new degree apprenticeships and 377 new higher apprenticeships, giving a total of 783 and an average of 44 new vacancies each week.

This represents a 77.1% reduction in vacancies post-lockdown compared with pre-lockdown. In other words, the number of new DAs and HAs continues to have been cut by more than three quarters and this pattern has remained fairly stable in recent weeks. In fact, when I wrote the first of these blogs in May, 8 weeks after lockdown, the average number of vacancies was slightly lower (38) but the reduction was identical (77%).  

Updated regional analysis

The 783 higher and degree apprenticeships advertised in England since the start of lockdown have been distributed as follows:

• Greater London (139)
• Yorkshire (56)
• Hertfordshire (49)
• Surrey (46)
• Essex (45)
• Greater Manchester (40)
• Hampshire (40)
• West Midlands (34)
• Gloucestershire (30)
• Berkshire (22)
• Nottinghamshire (21)
• Suffolk (21)
• Tyne & Wear (19)
• Cheshire (19)
• Sussex (19)
• Lancashire (15)
• Devon (14)
• Cambridgeshire (13)
• Merseyside (12)
• Bedfordshire (12)
• Warwickshire (11)
• Oxfordshire (10)
• Staffordshire (9)
• Derbyshire (9)
• Kent (9)
• Leicestershire (8)
• Somerset (8)
• Durham (7)
• Northamptonshire (7)
• Buckinghamshire (7)
• Cumbria (6)
• Norfolk (6)
• Shropshire (5)
• Worcestershire (4)
• Cornwall (3)
• Lincolnshire (2)
• Dorset (2)
• Herefordshire (1)
• Wiltshire (1)
• + 2 for which the location was unspecified

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 as stark as it first appears:

• 153 South East (9.1)
• 146 East of England (6.2)
• 139 London (8.9)
•   92 North West (7.3)
•   64 West Midlands (5.9)
•   58 South West (5.6)
•   56 Yorkshire & Humber (5.4)
•   47 East Midlands (4.8)
•   26 North East (2.7)

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 406 new vacancies spread across 33 occupational areas and minimum starting salaries have ranged from £7,830 to £27,665pa.  

1^st Digital Technology Solutions* (current total = 98)

2^nd Accountancy or Taxation

3^rd Financial Services

4^th Electrical/Electronic Engineers

5^th Civil Engineers

6^th= Chartered Management (general)

6^th= Data Scientists & Analysts

8^th Retail Management (all with Morrisons)

9^th= Chartered Surveyors

9^th= Control Engineers

11^th Healthcare Science Practitioners*

12^th Adult Nursing

13^th= Broadcast & Media Systems Engineers

13^th= Business to Business Sales Professionals

15^th= Laboratory Scientists

15^th= Town Planners

17^th= Chemical Engineers

17^th= Food Technologists

17^th= Packaging Technologists

20^th= Building Services Design Engineers

20^th= Environmental Health Practitioners

20^th= Environmental Practitioners

20^th= Mechanical, Product Design & Development Engineers

20^th= User Experience (UX) Professionals

25^th= Building Control Surveyors

25^th= Cyber Security Technologists

25^th= Materials Scientists

25^th= Supply Chain Leadership

29^th= Digital Marketing

29^th= Geospatial Mapping Surveyor

29^th= Manufacturing Engineer

29^th= Marketing Management

29^th= Visual Merchandiser

*Digital Technology Solutions has encompassed Software Engineering, Network Engineering, Data Analytics, Cyber Security, IT Business Analyst, Infrastructure Engineering, and BIM (Building Information Modelling).

*Healthcare Science Practitioners has encompassed Cardiac Physiology, Neurophysiology, Biomedical Science, Radiation Engineering, and Digital Healthcare.

Higher apprenticeships:

In total there have been 377 new vacancies spread across 39 occupational areas and minimum starting salaries have ranged from £6,474 to £29,000pa.

1^st Software Developers (current total = 77)

2^nd Manufacturing Engineering Technicians

3^rd Data Analysts

4^th Project Management

5^th Buying, Merchandising & Supply Chain

6^th Accounting Technicians

7^th= Network Engineers

7^th= Science Laboratory Technicians

9^th= Broadcast & Media Systems Technicians

9^th= Electrical/Electronic Engineering Technicians

11^th= Cyber Security Technologists

11^th= Nursing Associates (Mental Health)

11^th= Sales Executives

14^th= Software Testers

15^th= Information Systems Business Analysts

15^th= Investment Consultants

17^th Children, Young People & Family Practitioners

18^th= Building Services Engineering Technicians

18^th= Insurance Professionals

20^th= Financial Paraplanners/Advisers

20^th= Food Technologists/Food Engineers

20^th= Housing/Property Management

20^th= Junior Management Consultants

20^th= Policy Officers

20^th= Public Relations Assistants

20^th= Regulatory Compliance Officers

27^th= Hearing Aid Dispensers

27^th= Hospitality Management

27^th= Human Resources Specialists

27^th= Learning & Skills Teachers

27^th= Quantity Surveying Technicians

32^nd= Civil Engineering Technician

32^nd= Construction Site Supervisor

32^nd= DevOps Engineer

32^nd= IT Support Professional

32^nd= Learning & Development Practitioner

32^nd= Operations Management

32^nd= Revenue & Benefits Officer

32^nd= Tax Technician

Going forward

I will probably post another brief update next week.

© Alan Bullock, 26/7/2020