Headline news
It’s all a bit too good to be true at the moment. Despite all the doom and gloom around us, new higher and degree apprenticeship vacancies have been relatively plentiful recently, especially degree apprenticeships. What’s more, I’m already hearing that next week looks promising too, with 70 Economist vacancies to be announced on Monday.
BAE Systems was the biggest contributor this week across several different sites, amongst which the counties of Cumbria and Lancashire were especially prominent. Global insurance giant Willis also made a big impact on my data, with Suffolk benefitting for the second week running.
In fact, remarkably, the three locations with the largest number of vacancies in the past two weeks have been Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria (90), the Fylde region of Lancashire (62) and Ipswich (54). I wish I’d put a tenner on that little combination. It also puts Cumbria into the top ten counties for post-lockdown vacancies, which is not something I would ever have predicted.
Thanks to BAE, Cowes on the the Isle of Wight has registered 16 vacancies too, which is my obscure reason for selecting this week’s very unseasonal image. It’s another photo I took myself, during a visit to Cowes Week.
Background
Since the first ‘lockdown’ started on Monday 23rd March 2020, I have kept a record of all new higher and degree apprenticeship vacancies posted in England. I largely use data extracted every week from the government’s ‘Find an apprenticeship’ website, while also keeping an eye on other national vacancy sources. However, I exclude any vacancies that I would consider wholly unsuitable for an 18/19-year-old school or college leaver.
I’ve been compiling similar data since autumn 2018, so each week I compare my post-lockdown data with the corresponding number of weeks pre-lockdown, whilst also building up occupational and regional analyses.
When recording multiple vacancies posted by some of the larger employers, I use an element of editorial licence. I usually record precise information on numbers and locations, but in a few cases I’ve made educated, conservative estimates based on data and patterns I’ve noted in previous years. I also adjust these retrospectively if updated data comes to light. Therefore, the figures I present each week will never be fully reliable nor will they ever fully compare like with like. However, as the picture develops week on week, the broad trends and occupational and regional breakdowns provide some powerful LMI that can be immensely useful in guidance.
Headline data
During the latest week, from 7th to 11th December, I recorded:
- 293 new Degree & Level 7 Apprenticeship vacancies and
- 90 new Higher Apprenticeship vacancies
The overall comparison pre- and post-lockdown now looks like this:
- In the 38 weeks prior to lockdown (1st July 2019 to 20th March 2020) I recorded 3,977 new Degree & Level 7 Apprenticeships and 2,505 new Higher Apprenticeships, giving a total of 6,482 and an average of 171 new vacancies each week.
- In the 38 weeks since the start of lockdown (23rd March to 11th December 2020) I have recorded 2,812 new Degree & Level 7 Apprenticeships and 2,223 new Higher Apprenticeships, giving a total of 5,035 and an average of 133 new vacancies each week.
This represents a 22.3% reduction in vacancies post-lockdown compared with pre-lockdown, but that figure continues to show a dramatic and ongoing improvement on the dire situation that prevailed during the spring and summer.
Updated regional analysis
My evolving regional data is broken down by county and region and every county in England is represented. When large employers post multiple vacancies across a range of locations, I make strenuous efforts to identify those locations. In a small number of cases however, when big companies have posted nationwide vacancies with no indication of where in England they’re distributed, I have used either their head office location or, if applicable, the university city that apprentices will go to for some or all of their off-the-job studies. This is another element of my ‘editorial licence’, but it only marginally skews the overall figures.
The 5,035 higher and degree apprenticeships advertised in England since the start of lockdown have been distributed as follows:
- Greater London (1,190)
- Yorkshire (554)
- West Midlands (373)
- Greater Manchester (309)
- Gloucestershire & North Bristol (215)
- Hampshire (215)
- Lancashire (147)
- Surrey (142)
- Berkshire (137)
- Cumbria (122)
- Nottinghamshire (115)
- Hertfordshire (114)
- Tyne & Wear (108)
- Merseyside (101)
- Suffolk (98)
- Essex (94)
- Sussex (83)
- Dorset (81)
- Cambridgeshire (72)
- Wiltshire (70)
- County Durham (69)
- Cheshire (64)
- Somerset & South Bristol (54)
- Northamptonshire (52)
- Devon (48)
- Warwickshire (47)
- Leicestershire (45)
- Kent (45)
- Bedfordshire (43)
- Buckinghamshire (42)
- Derbyshire (31)
- Norfolk (31)
- Staffordshire (26)
- Oxfordshire (25)
- Lincolnshire (16)
- Isle of Wight (16)
- Shropshire (13)
- Worcestershire (13)
- Cornwall (4)
- Northumberland (3)
- Herefordshire (2)
- Not specified (6)
This is how those stats add up regionally. In brackets I’ve added the total population of each region in millions, which gives a sense of proportion to the apprenticeship figures. For example, in population terms the North East is by far the smallest region, so the differences in apprenticeship numbers are not as disproportionate as they might appear.
- 1,190 London (8.9)
- 743 North West (7.3)
- 705 South East (9.1)
- 554 Yorkshire & Humber (5.4)
- 474 West Midlands (5.9)
- 472 South West (5.6)
- 452 East of England (6.2)
- 259 East Midlands (4.8)
- 180 North East (2.7)
- 6 Not specified
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 from the official apprenticeship standards terminology. Since lockdown, the complete lists of occupational areas represented in each category are given below. In my view, this provides a fascinating insight into what the emerging occupations are in a changing landscape.
Degree & Level 7 Apprenticeships:
In total there have been 2,812 new vacancies spread across 66 occupational areas and minimum starting salaries have ranged from £6,474 to £30,000pa. The occupational breakdown is as follows:
485 Accountancy or Tax Specialists
340 Digital Technology Solutions (general) *see below for more details
325 Police Constables
194 Software Engineers
164 Project Management
148 Chartered Management (general)
103 Design, Development & Mechanical Engineers
82 Electrical/Electronic Engineers
80 Aerospace Engineers
78 Civil Engineers
76 Data Scientists & Analysts
68 Chartered Building/Property/Valuation Surveyors
55 Food Technology/Food Manufacturing
50 Cyber Security Specialists
45 Logistics & Supply Chain Professionals
44 Chartered Quantity Surveyors
33 Construction Management
33 Network Engineers
31 Retail Management
29 Financial Services Professionals
27 Manufacturing & Production Management (general)
27 Sales Professionals
26 Manufacturing Engineers
25 Control Engineers
25 Digital Marketing Professionals
20 Nuclear Engineers
13 Building Services Design Engineers
12 Laboratory Scientists
12 Professional Economists
12 Railway Engineers
11 Digital User Experience (UX) Professionals
11 Solicitors
10 Adult Nursing
9 Broadcast & Media Systems Engineers
8 Clinical Trials Specialists
8 Environmental Practitioners
8 Gas Turbine Propulsion Engineers
8 Town Planners
6 Cardiac Physiologists
6 Creative Digital Designers
6 Environmental Health Officers
6 Human Resources Professionals
5 Chemical Engineers
5 Packaging Technologists
4 Automotive Engineers
4 Biomedical Healthcare Scientists
4 Materials Scientists/Technologists
3 Building Control Surveyors
3 Compliance & Risk Specialists
3 Marketing Management
2 Diagnostic Radiographers
2 Geospatial Mapping/Planning/Surveying
2 Internal Auditors
2 Neurophysiologists
2 Tax Technologists
2 Transport Planners
1 Building Information Modelling Specialist (BIM)
1 Chartered Legal Executive
1 Digital Healthcare Specialist
1 Digital Transformation Engineer
1 Learning Technology Support Teacher
1 Midwife
1 Ordnance Munitions & Explosives Specialist
1 Podiatrist
1 Radiation Engineer (Healthcare)
1 Visual Merchandiser
*Digital Technology Solutions (general) has encompassed the following specialisms and in many cases apprentices are able to sample multiple areas:
Software Engineering, Software Development, Network Engineering, Data Science, Data Analytics, IT Consultants, Data Architecture & Integration, Cyber & Information Security, Software Consultancy, Solution Engineering & Development, Business Analytics, Business Intelligence, Technology Operations & Service Delivery, Infrastructure Specialists, IT Technical Support, Software Testing and Junior Product Management.
Higher Apprenticeships:
In total there have been 2,223 new vacancies spread across 62 occupational areas and minimum starting salaries have ranged from £6,474 to £30,000pa (the same salary range as DAs). The occupational breakdown is as follows:
276 Trainee Accountants / Accounting Technicians
249 Software Developers
159 Project Management Associates
142 Sales Executives
133 Data Analysts
101 Tax Technicians
99 Manufacturing Engineering Technicians
78 Policy Officers
70 Investment Operations
69 Nursing Associates
59 Insurance Professionals
59 Software Testers
58 Civil Engineering Technicians
54 Network Engineers
49 Children, Young People & Family Practitioners
42 Commercial Procurement & Supply Specialists
40 Technician Scientists
39 Cyber Security Technologists/Analysts
39 Quantity Surveying Technicians
38 Construction Technicians/Site Supervisors
36 Junior Management Consultants
34 Regulatory Compliance Professionals
32 Business Analysts
25 Building Services Engineering Technicians
25 Public Relations Assistants
22 Buying & Merchandising (Fashion/Homewares)
19 Electrical/Electronic Engineering Technicians
12 Broadcast & Media Systems Technicians
12 Digital Marketing Executives
12 Human Resources Practitioners
9 Investment Consultants
8 Food Technology/Manufacturing
8 Marketing Executives
7 Brewers
7 DevOps Engineers
7 Housing & Property Management
7 Internal Auditors
7 Logistics & Supply Chain Specialists
7 Mineral Products Technicians
7 Retail Management
6 Automation & Control Engineers
6 Automotive Engineering Technicians
6 Financial Paraplanners/Advisers
6 Operations Management
6 Construction Design & Build Technicians
5 Hearing Aid Dispensers
5 Hospitality Management
4 Learning & Skills Teachers
4 Social Care Leaders
3 Learning & Development Practitioners
2 Actuarial Technicians
2 Nuclear Technicians
2 Paralegals
2 Tax Technology Technicians
1 Hygiene Specialist
1 Quality Practitioner
1 Passenger Transport Management
1 Recruitment Consultant
1 Revenue & Benefits Officer
1 School Business Professional
1 Sports Development Officer
1 Wedding Accessories Designer
Going forward
All being well, there will be a further update next week. I hope to post a Week 40 update over the Christmas weekend too, for those who can’t cope with the festive period without a nice bit of data.
© Alan Bullock, 12/12/2020
