Latest reflections in England

The two weeks either side of Christmas were much more productive than I’d expected and prominent providers included Pfizer, BP, engineering and infrastructure professional services firm WSP and the Government Economic Service.

Amongst a smattering of other occupations, WSP posted over 30 Civil Engineering DAs at 16 different locations around England that included far-flung towns and cities ranging from Northallerton in the north, Hertford and Norwich in the east, Shrewsbury and Exeter in the west and Brighton, Southampton and Basingstoke in the south. Their other occupations included three Transport Planners in London, Liverpool and Manchester, each with Aston University as the degree partner.

60 Professional Economist DAs with the Government Economic Service were also posted at a range of locations from Newcastle and Darlington in the north east to Fareham in the south. These vacancies are particularly notable for being spread across 16 different government departments and, if you want some valuable labour market information, you can find full details of the roles, locations, numbers and departments in fascinating detail by clicking on the “GES DAP Job Description 2023” link at:  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-government-economic-service-degree-level-apprenticeship.

Other home nations update

There’s been a little bit of activity in Wales recently too, including a few of the Government Economic Service DAs being allocated to the Office for National Statistics in Newport. Consequently I’m now on track to produce my first Wales report, hopefully at the end of January, alongside my second report on Scotland. Watch this space for more news on this.

In an attempt to attract the attention of colleagues in Wales, I’ve picked one of my very seasonal Newport photos as this week’s featured image, taken whilst I was doing a bit of work with the University of South Wales a few years ago.       

Background

Since the first ‘lockdown’ started on Monday 23^rd March 2020, I’ve kept a record of new higher and degree apprenticeship vacancies posted in England and in doing so have built up an evolving occupational and regional analysis. I largely use data extracted daily from the government’s ‘Find an Apprenticeship’ website, whilst also keeping a close eye on other national vacancy sources including NHS Jobs, Not Going to Uni, Rate My Apprenticeship and UCAS, plus occasional listings by Amazing Apprenticeships and High Fliers.

I collated similar data for a period of 70 weeks prior to the March 2020 lockdown and my weekly headline data compares the pre-lockdown and post-lockdown figures, using the two 70-week periods either side of lockdown as a benchmark.

My target audience is Level 3 school and college leavers and those who influence and advise them. Therefore, I only include vacancies at Levels 4 to 7 that ‘work-ready’ 18/19-year-olds seeking their first permanent role could reasonably apply for, whether at the point of leaving school/college or after a few months of temporary experience. If more than a year’s permanent experience is clearly required, I don’t normally include the vacancy in my figures.

I would emphasise the term ‘work-ready’ because academic qualifications alone will never be enough to compete successfully for a higher or degree apprenticeship. Whilst a UCAS points score of 112 is the most frequently quoted minimum entry requirement for DAs (sometimes more and quite often less), it’s otherwise much more about the skills, qualities and insights you can bring.

My data will never be fully reliable because not all vacancies are advertised nationally in a way that also gives an indication of actual numbers and locations. However, the analyses that I’ve built up paint an intriguing picture of what’s out there in a changing post-18 career landscape. The figures also suggest that there’s something of a mismatch between supply and demand in terms of volume (there aren’t enough to go around), location (my regional breakdown raises questions about ‘levelling up’) and the range of occupations available (which probably doesn’t align too well with student aspirations).

One further and slightly confusing factor to take into account is that it’s quite normal for some 18/19-year-old school/college leavers to apply for Level 3 apprenticeships too. It’s also true that a significant proportion of opportunities at Levels 4 to 7 will be snapped up by older applicants or even graduates and therefore work-readiness really matters to enable 18/19-year-olds to compete successfully.

Since 1^st June 2022 I’ve also been collecting data for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland with a view to producing occasional reports on my blog going forward. My first Scotland report was published on 2^nd December.  

Headline data

In England during the latest two-week period from 19^th December 2022 to 1^st January 2023 I recorded:

• 290 new Degree & L7 Apprenticeship vacancies and
• 147 new Higher Apprenticeship vacancies 

In the 145 weeks since the start of the first COVID-19 lockdown (23^rd March 2020 to 1^st January 2023) I’ve now recorded:

• 17,299 new Degree Apprenticeships (Levels 6/7) and
• 15,899 new Higher Apprenticeships (Levels 4/5)
• giving a total of 33,198

Using the 70 weeks either side of the initial lockdown (on 23/3/20) as a benchmark, my latest comparative figures are as follows:

• Weekly average in the 70 weeks before lockdown: 82 DAs + 71 HAs = 153 total
• Weekly average in the first 70 weeks after lockdown: 84 DAs + 75 HAs = 159 total
• Weekly average in the 145 weeks since lockdown: 119 DAs + 110 HAs = 229 total

This shows that both DAs and HAs have more than fully recovered since the initial reductions in the early days of the pandemic. Whilst it’s fair to say that I’m being much more thorough in the way I track down and monitor new vacancies than I was in pre-COVID days, I’ve definitely seen an upward trend in volume compared with how things looked two to three years ago. However, with the threat of recession now apparently upon us, I’ll be keeping my eye very firmly on the ball in the coming weeks to see if there’s any sign of a slowdown.

Updated analysis by county and region

By county (loosely defined), the 33,198 higher and degree apprenticeships advertised in England since the start of lockdown have been distributed as follows:

• Greater London (8,567)
• Yorkshire (2,885)
• West Midlands (1,963)
• Greater Manchester (1,758)
• Bristol & Gloucestershire (1,380)
• Hampshire (1,156)
• Berkshire (1,025)
• Hertfordshire (823)
• Surrey (792)
• Nottinghamshire (665)
• Cheshire (642)
• Sussex (627)
• Tyne & Wear (624)
• Merseyside (599)
• Derbyshire (583)
• Essex (572)
• Cambridgeshire (548)
• Lancashire (525)
• Warwickshire (487)
• Suffolk (486)
• Somerset & South Bristol (436)
• Devon (436)
• Kent (435)
• Cumbria (416)
• Staffordshire (407)
• Buckinghamshire (398)
• Wiltshire (383)
• Dorset (370)
• County Durham (363)
• Leicestershire (355)
• Bedfordshire (350)
• Oxfordshire (346)
• Northamptonshire (304)
• Norfolk (291)
• Cornwall (279)
• Worcestershire (242)
• Lincolnshire (214)
• Shropshire (187)
• Isle of Wight (53)
• Northumberland (47)
• Herefordshire (34)
• Rutland (11)
• Home working with no central base (34)
• Not specified (100) 

Regional data: The table below shows how those stats add up regionally in the context of the local 15 to 24-year-old population. The population figures have been extracted from the very latest ONS census data published in June 2022 and my analysis provides the following information:

• First number in bold = the latest cumulative number of vacancies for each region
• Big number in brackets = the resident population of 15 to 24-year-olds in the region using the new ONS data and rounded to the nearest 100
• Third figure in bold indexes my apprenticeship figures against the 15 to 24-year-old population. The ‘index’ shows the combined number of DAs and HAs since March 2020 per 1,000 of that population and the regions are then ‘ranked’ accordingly:

•   8,567   London (1,078,600: 7.94
•   3,303   South West (645,800: 5.11)
•   4,798   South East (1,040,500: 4.61)
•   3,319   West Midlands (720,900: 4.60)  
•   3,085   East of England (685,300: 4.50)
•   3,937   North West (884,600: 4.45)
•   2,902   Yorkshire & Humber (670,800: 4.33)
•   2,077   East Midlands (593,700: 3.50)
•   1,076   North East (313,000: 3.44)
•      134   Not specified / Home working

• 33,198   Total England (6,633,200: 5.00)

Whilst my data is always going to have flaws in it, the above comparisons nonetheless seem to raise continuing questions about ‘levelling up’. There are hints of a lack of balance between north and south and especially a distinct London-centric element. It’s this very concern that first prompted me to start collating regional as well as occupational data. The South West being so well-placed is perhaps surprising, although Bristol takes much of the credit for that.  

Updated occupational analysis

Each week I update my occupational analysis by breaking down the new vacancies into what I loosely define as ‘occupational areas’, which in some cases differ from the official apprenticeship standards terminology. Since the start of lockdown in March 2020, 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 Apprenticeships (Levels 6/7):

In total there have been 17,299 new vacancies spread across 109 occupational areas and minimum starting salaries have ranged from £5,590 to £32,000pa. The occupational breakdown is as follows:

3,135 Police Constables 

1,842 Accountancy/Tax/Audit Professionals

1,555 Digital Technology Solutions (general) *see below for details

  894 Chartered Managers (general)

  844 Software Engineers/Developers

  690 Civil Engineers

  603 Chartered Quantity Surveyors 

  588 Nurses (477 Adult, 86 Mental Health, 20 Learning Disability, 5 Child) 

  550 Data Scientists/Analysts/Engineers

  501 Project Managers

  393 Chartered Building/Property Surveyors  

  356 Electrical/Electronic Engineers

  305 Supply Chain Leaders

  291 Design & Development (Mechanical) Engineers

  285 Nuclear Engineers/Scientists  

  264 Cyber Security Professionals

  261 Food & Drink Technologists/Manufacturers

  232 Digital Marketing Professionals

  214 Financial Services Professionals

  199 Manufacturing Engineers

  196 Professional Economists 

  185 Building Services Design Engineers 

  181 Sales Professionals

  171 Solicitors 

  153 Retail Leaders

  141 Laboratory Scientists

  134 Aerospace Engineers

  134 Environmental Practitioners

  132 Construction Managers

  128 Network Engineers

  100 Healthcare Science Practitioners (13 Biomedical Science, 13 Cardiac Physiology, 11 Medical & Clinical Engineering, 11 Nuclear Medicine Technology, 10 Neurophysiology, 10 Respiratory Physiology & Sleep Science, 8 Radiation & Radiotherapy Engineering, 7 Radiation & Radiotherapy Physics, 6 Audiology, 5 Digital Healthcare Science, 3 Bioinformatics, 1 Medical Physics Technology, 1 Rehabilitation Engineering, 1 Renal Specialist)   

    85 Hospital Operating Department Practitioners  

    84 Railway/Rail Systems Engineers

    80 Digital User Experience (UX) Design Professionals

    69 Electro-Mechanical/Mechatronics Engineers    

    68 Control Engineers    

    67 Radiographers (41 Diagnostic, 26 Therapeutic)

    66 Project Control Professionals

    64 Non-Destructive Testing Engineers

    53 Materials Scientists/Technologists/Engineers 

    45 Occupational Therapists

    43 Chartered Managers (Hospitality)

    42 Town Planners     

    41 Broadcast/Media Systems Engineers

    40 Creative Digital Design Professionals   

    40 Internal Audit Professionals    

    39 Chartered Building Control Surveyors

    38 Manufacturing & Production Managers (non-food)        

    37 Clinical Trials Specialists

    36 Podiatrists

    33 Human Resources Professionals  

    32 Chemical Engineers     

    31 Business Analysts  

    30 Recruitment Professionals

    29 Design & Construction Professionals

    29 Social Workers 

    28 Packaging Professionals 

    28 Transport Planners    

    24 Chartered Rural Surveyors

    24 Environmental Health Officers

    21 Weapons Munitions & Explosives Engineers

    20 Junior Traders (Global Financial Markets)     

    19 Marketing Managers

    18 Public Health Practitioners

    17 Architectural Assistants

    17 Journalists

    16 GIS / Geospatial Mapping & Surveying Professionals

    15 Geotechnical Engineers

    15 Professional Foresters

    12 Insurance Professionals

    12 Physiotherapists

    10 Midwives      

      9 Business Managers (Social Change)

      9 Fire Safety Engineers

      8 Agricultural/Horticultural Advisers

      8 Gas Transmission Engineers

      8 Propulsion Engineers

      7 Land Buyers

      6 Actuarial Professionals

      6 Sport Development Officers

      5 Chartered Legal Executives   

      5 Dietitians

      5 Operations Analysts

      4 Assistant Teachers / Learning Coaches

      4 Compliance & Risk Specialists

      4 Speech & Language Therapists

      3 Building Information Modelling (BIM) Specialists

      3 Buying & Procurement Professionals

      3 Digital Transformation Engineers

      3 Fitness/Leisure Centre Managers

      3 TV Production Managers

      2 Education Technology Specialists

      2 Licensed Conveyancers

      2 Pensions Professionals

      2 Tax Technologists

      1 Brewer

      1 Career Development Professional

      1 Charity Manager

      1 Community Centre Manager

      1 Events Manager

      1 Facilities Manager

      1 Games Programmer

      1 Human Performance Engineer 

      1 Investment Banking Specialist

      1 Lighting Designer

      1 Marine Engineer

      1 Population Health Intelligence Analyst

      1 Prosthetist & Orthotist

      1 Sonographer     

*Digital Technology Solutions (general) has encompassed or led to the following range of specialisms:   

Software Engineer, Software Developer, Software Tester, Network Engineer, Data Scientist, Data Analyst, Global Data Analyst, Data Product Specialist, Data Architect, Network Architect, Enterprise Architect, Digital Solutions Architect, Technology Architect, Cyber Security Specialist, IT Consultant, Solutions Consultant, Software Implementation Consultant, Software Consultant, Technical Consultant, Functional Consultant, Project Manager, Project Co-ordinator, Business Intelligence (BI) Developer, Business Systems Engineer/Developer, Automation Developer, Automation Test Developer, Full Stack Developer, Digital Developer, Prototype Developer, Technology Manager, Innovation Technologist, Innovation Design Analyst, Agile Analyst, Applications Support Analyst, Technical Support Analyst, Business Analyst, Business Technology Analyst, Network Strategy Analyst, Global Mobility Analyst, Content Analyst, Security Operations Analyst, Process Mining Analyst, SAP Analyst, User Experience Researcher, Junior Product Manager, Infrastructure Specialist, FinTech Specialist, DevOps Engineer, Solutions Engineer, Digital Solutions Engineer, Systems Engineer, Automation Engineer, IT Support Engineer, Service Desk Engineer, Cloud Engineer, Quality Assurance Engineer, Sales Engineer, Sales Account Manager, Sales Operations Manager, Scientific Computing Specialist, Platform Manager, Service Manager, Engineering Information Manager, Information Management Technology Specialist, Amazon Web Services Specialist, Supervisory Control & Data Acquisition Specialist, Fixed Telecoms Specialist, Operations Support Analyst, Support Desk Analyst, IT Support Analyst, IT Service Desk Analyst, IT/Computing Technician, Second Line Support Technician, WordPress Developer, Public Health Intelligence Officer, Technology Operations & Service Delivery Specialist, Digital Manufacturing Engineer, Electronic Systems Design & Development Engineer, Solution Engineering & Development Specialist, Client Delivery Specialist, Client Success Specialist, Client Consultant, Operations Resilience & Change Specialist, Microsoft 365 Product Specialist, Innovation Foundry Specialist, Continuous Improvement & Automation Specialist and Railway Signalling Control Systems Specialist.

That’s some list (currently 87) and it just keeps on growing.

Higher Apprenticeships (Levels 4/5):

In total there have been 15,899 new vacancies spread across 141 occupational areas and minimum starting salaries have ranged from £5,002 to £35,000pa. The occupational breakdown is as follows: 

1,526 Sales Executives

1,169 Software Developers 

1,126 Data Analysts

1,072 Accounting Technicians

1,065 Project Management Associates

  851 School/Community Sports Coaches    

  480 Construction Site Supervisors

  449 Nursing Associates

  423 Business Analysts  

  418 Manufacturing Engineering Technicians 

  365 Network Engineers

  355 Taxation Technicians

  313 Software Testers

  305 Quantity Surveying Technicians  

  301 Cyber Security Technologists

  280 Commercial Procurement & Supply Practitioners

  261 Public Relations & Communications Assistants

  238 Retail Assistant Managers

  235 Civil/Site Engineering Technicians

  222 Healthcare Associate Practitioners (150 Reablement, 59 Multidisciplinary, 5 Mammography, 5 Speech Therapy, 2 Phlebotomy, 1 Occupational Therapy)

  214 Children/Youth/Family Practitioners

  210 Buying & Merchandising Specialists

  202 Building Services Engineering Technicians

  186 Technician Scientists

  182 Electrical/Electronic Engineering Technicians

  175 Insurance Practitioners  

  172 Policy Officers (Central/Local Government)

  165 Investment Operations Specialists

  162 Marketing Executives

  154 DevOps Engineers

  144 Associate Ambulance Practitioners

  134 Regulatory Compliance Officers

  133 Early Years Lead Practitioners

  130 Junior Management Consultants

  115 Construction Design & Build Technicians

    93 Human Resources Specialists     

    92 Mineral Products Technicians 

    86 Healthcare Science Associates (29 Audiology & Hearing Aid Dispensers, 18 (Bio)Medical Engineering Technicians, 17 Cardiorespiratory & Sleep Physiology, 9 Radiography, 6 Genetics Technology, 2 Medical Physics, 2 Tissue Retrieval, 1 Biochemistry, 1 Neurophysiology, 1 Rehabilitation Engineering)  

    84 Quality Practitioners

    78 Nuclear Technicians     

    77 Food Technology/Engineering/Production Technicians 

    77 Hospitality Managers

    72 Recruitment Consultants

    70 Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability Practitioners  

    61 Financial Advisers/Paraplanners   

    56 Actuarial Technicians

    55 Internal Audit Practitioners

    50 Adult Social Care Lead Practitioners       

    49 Intelligence Analysts

    47 Journalists

    47 Vehicle Damage Assessors     

    44 Brewers 

    42 Automotive Engineering/Propulsion Technicians

    40 Operations Managers   

    40 Revenue & Welfare Benefits Officers    

    37 TV/Media Production Co-ordinators

    33 Business Improvement Practitioners 

    33 Learning/Skills & Development Practitioners

    32 Automation & Control Engineers

    31 Dairy Technologists

    30 Railway Engineering Technicians

    29 Ordnance Munitions & Explosives Technicians

    24 Police Community Support Officers

    23 Estate Agency Negotiators

    22 Market Research Executives

    21 Housing/Property/Lettings Managers

    20 Information Managers    

    17 Countryside Rangers

    16 Paralegals

    15 Fibre Cable Engineers

    15 Smart Energy Engineers

    14 Audiovisual Technicians

    13 Land Referencers      

    12 Broadcast & Media Systems Technicians

    12 Digital Community Managers

    12 Engineer Surveyors

    11 Film/TV Post-Production Technical Operators

    11 Hygiene Specialists

    10 Air Traffic Controllers

    10 Football Coaches

      9 Acoustics Technicians

      9 Employability Practitioners

      9 Naval Architects / Marine Engineering Technicians

      9 Railway/Passenger Transport Operations Managers

      8 Applications Support Leads

      8 BEMS Control Engineers (Building Energy Management Systems)

      7 Computer Games Developers

      7 Counter Fraud Investigators    

      6 Digital Accessibility Specialists

      6 Facilities Managers

      6 Fire Safety Inspectors

      6 School Business Professionals     

      5 Antisocial Behaviour & Community Safety Officers

      5 Architectural Technicians

      5 Broadcasting Technical Operators

      5 Dental Technicians

      5 Nuclear Welding Inspection Technicians

      5 Rehabilitation Officers (Visual Impairment) 

      5 Visual Merchandisers

      4 Aircraft Certifying Technicians

      4 Gymnastics/Trampoline Coaches & Rebound Therapists

      4 Space Engineering Technicians

      4 Unified Communications Trouble Shooters

      3 Fashion & Textiles Technologists

      3 Historic Site Advisers

      3 Pensions Administrators

      3 Port Marine Operations Officers

      3 Senior Culinary Chefs

      3 Sports Development Officers   

      3 Town Planning Assistants 

      3 Utilities Technicians

      2 Arboriculturists      

      2 Auctioneers

      2 Building Information Modelling (BIM) Technicians

      2 Early Intervention Practitioners

      2 Music Recording Technicians

      2 Tax Technology Technicians

      2 Travel Executives

      2 VFX Artists

      2 Water Recycling Engineers

      1 Chaplain

      1 Chemical Process Technician

      1 Clinical Coder

      1 Community Energy Specialist

      1 Cultural Heritage Conservation Technician

      1 Customs & Foreign Exchange Expert

      1 Data Protection Practitioner

      1 Fitness Club Manager

      1 Fitness Instructor

      1 Health Informatics Specialist

      1 Horticultural / Landscape Design Practitioner

      1 Junior Energy Manager

      1 Lighting Designer

      1 Metrology Technician

      1 Outdoor Learning Specialist

      1 Padel Coach

      1 Payroll Assistant Manager

      1 Process Leader

      1 Tennis Coach

      1 Wedding Accessories Designer

      1 Wedding Venue Co-ordinator

Going forward

All being well I will continue posting frequent updates, usually on Sunday nights or Monday mornings.

© Alan Bullock Careers, 3/1/2023

http://www.alanbullockcareers.com