Week 168: Higher & Degree Apprenticeships overview – an ever-evolving landscape

Latest reflections on the situation in England

As usual at this time of year the flow of new vacancies has been steady rather than spectacular. However, I took the opportunity to check out what’s been happening to Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship (PCDA) recruitment and was surprised to discover that PCDA application windows are now open across the majority of police forces in England. With some exceptions precise numbers are not usually available, but I’ve been able to use my past experience to make very educated conservative estimates, which I’ll adjust if and when any more data is revealed. Whilst it’s a well-known fact that successful PCDA applicants will often have several years of work and life experience behind them, it can also be a realistic option for a well-prepared, work-ready younger applicant and hence they meet the criteria for inclusion in my data. With minimum entry grades usually ranging from 32 to 64 UCAS points, it’s quite an inclusive option in an academic sense too.

Another intriguing development has been some further activity in the Healthcare Science Practitioner field. By breaking these vacancies down into specialisms, I’ve found this to be one of the most illuminating outcomes of my ongoing apprenticeships project. This week Biomedical Sciences made a big leap with 18 new DA vacancies in London and two in Nottingham, while Radiotherapy Physics and Respiratory Physiology also popped up again with a couple of vacancies each in Plymouth, Bolton and Crewe.

I think it’s also worth commenting on the steady ongoing trickle of Environmental Practitioner and Environmental Health Officer vacancies, with a further ten of them added to my totals in Week 168. I’m gradually working on a special blogpost on this topic, reflecting on who the key employers and university partners tend to be, the spread of locations and the starting salaries they offer. It’s also the very tenuous theme of my featured image this week, which is a photo I took on a June evening five years ago at a location of very significant environmental interest. I defy anyone to guess where it is!

Finally, I’ve slightly tweaked my formatting with a view to making the cumulative data lists a little easier on the eye. I hope it helps.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland updates

Having now tracked vacancies in the three other home nations for a full year (since 1^st June 2022), my latest running totals are as follows:

Scotland: 618 vacancies at SQF Levels 10/11
Wales: 109 vacancies at Levels 6/7 and 142 at Levels 4/5
Northern Ireland: 109 vacancies at Levels 4 to 7

I published new Scotland and Wales updates last week and they can be found here:

Annual analysis of Level 10 Graduate Apprenticeships in Scotland

Annual analysis of Higher & Degree Apprenticeships in Wales

I think the Scotland data is especially interesting, showing a wide regional spread. The Wales report is a little hit-and-miss by comparison, but the picture there has already started to evolve further this week, with two of the four police forces (North Wales and Gwent) now having their PCDA recruitment open, so I think my next Wales report (probably in early-September) will be a worthwhile read. In addition I intend to publish some Northern Ireland reflections in due course, once I have enough reliable data.

Background

Since the first COVID-19 ‘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 tabs on other national vacancy sources especially Not Going to Uni, Rate My Apprenticeship and NHS Jobs.

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 an applicant 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, I think the analyses I’ve built up still 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, thereby ironically leaving some vacancies hard to fill).

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.

Headline data

In England during the latest period from 5^th to 11^th June 2023 I recorded:

91 new Degree & L7 Apprenticeship vacancies and
127 new Higher Apprenticeship vacancies
giving a total of 218 for the week
In addition I’ve added a large batch of new PCDA vacancies to my cumulative data, as explained above.

In the 168 weeks since the start of the first COVID-19 lockdown (23^rd March 2020 to 11^th June 2023) I’ve now recorded:

21,718 new Degree Apprenticeships (Levels 6/7) and
19,348 new Higher Apprenticeships (Levels 4/5)
giving a total of 41,066

The average weekly totals in the 168 weeks since lockdown have been:

129 DAs + 115 HAs = 244 average weekly total

Updated analysis by county and region

By county (loosely defined), the 41,066 higher and degree apprenticeships advertised in England since the start of lockdown have been distributed as follows:

Greater London (9,940)
Yorkshire (3,548)
West Midlands (2,525)
Greater Manchester (2,345)
Bristol & Gloucestershire (1,789)
Hampshire (1,425)
Berkshire (1,252)
Hertfordshire (996)
Surrey (943)
Cheshire (849)
Derbyshire (825)
Tyne & Wear (811)
Nottinghamshire (791)
Sussex (776)
Cambridgeshire (750)
Essex (710)
Merseyside (682)
Devon (666)
Somerset & South Bristol (599)
Warwickshire (580)
Lancashire (569)
Kent (565)
Buckinghamshire (554)
Suffolk (536)
Wiltshire (535)
Leicestershire (499)
Dorset (480)
Cumbria (476)
Oxfordshire (473)
Staffordshire (467)
Bedfordshire (434)
County Durham (418)
Cornwall (367)
Northamptonshire (356)
Norfolk (333)
Worcestershire (299)
Lincolnshire (291)
Shropshire (251)
Northumberland (69)
Isle of Wight (59)
Herefordshire (41)
Rutland (14)
Remote-working with no central base (70)
Not specified (108)

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 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 latest ONS data 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:

9,940 London (1,078,600: 9.22)
4,455 South West (645,800: 6.90)
6,013 South East (1,040,500: 5.78)
4,162 West Midlands (720,900: 5.77)
4,918 North West (884,600: 5.56)
3,774 East of England (685,300: 5.51)
3,568 Yorkshire & Humber (670,800: 5.32)
2,703 East Midlands (593,700: 4.55)
1,355 North East (313,000: 4.33)
70 Remote-working
108 Not specified

41,066 Total England (6,633,200: 6.19)

Whilst my data is always going to have flaws in it, I think the above comparisons give a fair reflection of the regional differences that exist. The South West’s prominence is perhaps surprising, with Bristol being a particularly busy hub.

Updated occupational analysis

Every week I update my occupational analysis, breaking the vacancies down into what I loosely define as ‘occupational areas’. In some cases these differ from the official apprenticeship standards terminology. For each occupational area the total number of vacancies since March 2020 is given below for both degree and higher apprenticeships.

Degree Apprenticeships (Levels 6/7):

In total there have been 21,718 new vacancies spread across 122 occupational areas and minimum starting salaries have ranged from £5,590 to £35,150pa, with the average being somewhere in the middle (around £19K). The occupational breakdown is as follows:

3,772 Police Constables

2,451 Accountancy/Tax/Audit Professionals

1,850 Digital Technology Solutions (general) *see below for details

1,117 Chartered Business Managers

1,066 Software Engineers/Developers

949 Civil Engineers

766 Chartered Quantity Surveyors

716 Nurses (554 Adult, 122 Mental Health, 33 Learning Disability, 7 Child)

663 Project Managers

655 Data Scientists/Analysts/Engineers

458 Electrical/Electronic Engineers

457 Chartered Building/Property/Valuation Surveyors

437 Design & Development Engineers

384 Nuclear Engineers

345 Supply Chain Leaders

303 Cyber Security Professionals

292 Food & Drink Technologists/Manufacturers

291 Building Services Engineers

281 Manufacturing Engineers

267 Banking/Financial Services/Investment Professionals

264 Digital Marketing Professionals

254 Solicitors

232 Sales Professionals

213 Laboratory Scientists

200 Professional Economists

186 Environmental Practitioners

182 Aerospace Engineers

167 Healthcare Science Practitioners (35 Biomedical Sciences, 20 Nuclear Medicine, 19 Cardiac Physiology, 18 Radiation & Radiotherapy Physics, 14 Radiation & Radiotherapy Engineering, 13 Respiratory & Sleep Physiology, 12 Audiology, 12 Medical Engineering, 10 Neurophysiology, 5 Digital Healthcare Science, 4 Medical Physics Technology, 3 Clinical Informatics, 1 Rehabilitation Engineering, 1 Renal Technology)

163 Retail Leaders

153 Railway/Rail Systems Engineers

148 Construction Managers

132 Network Engineers

121 Operating Department Practitioners (NHS)

102 Electro-Mechanical/Mechatronics Engineers

94 Automation & Control Engineers

90 Project Controls Professionals

83 Digital User Experience (UX) Design Professionals

83 Occupational Therapists

72 Radiographers (43 Diagnostic, 29 Therapeutic)

70 Materials Science Technologists/Engineers

66 Non-Destructive Testing Engineers

62 Creative Digital Design Professionals

58 Podiatrists

57 Building Control Surveyors

53 Clinical Trials Specialists

46 Town Planners

44 Broadcast/Communication/Media Systems Engineers

44 Social Workers

43 Packaging Professionals

40 Manufacturing/Production Managers (non-food)

39 Chartered Rural Surveyors / Land Agents

39 Chemical Engineers

37 Design & Construction Professionals

35 Transport Planners

34 Business Analysts

34 Human Resources Professionals

34 Weapons Munitions & Explosives Engineers

33 Environmental Health Officers

32 Recruitment Professionals

26 Architectural Assistants

25 Physiotherapists

24 Marketing/Brand Managers

23 Geotechnical Engineers

23 GIS / Geospatial Mapping & Surveying Professionals

20 Public Health Practitioners

18 Insurance Professionals

18 Journalists

17 Fire Safety Engineers

15 Forestry Professionals

11 Midwives

10 Dietitians

9 Business Managers (Social Change)

9 Propulsion Engineers

9 Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners

8 Agricultural/Horticultural Advisers

8 Gas Transmission Engineers

7 Land Buyers

7 Speech & Language Therapists

7 Sports Business Managers

6 Actuarial Professionals

6 Sport Development Officers

5 Chartered Legal Executives

5 Operations Analysts

4 Assistant Buyers

4 Assistant Teachers / Learning Coaches

4 Fitness/Leisure Centre Managers

3 Building Information Modelling (BIM) Specialists

3 Digital Transformation Engineers

3 Education Technology Specialists

3 TV Production Managers

2 Licensed Conveyancers

2 Lighting Designers

2 Pensions Professionals

2 Tax Technologists

1 Charity Manager

1 Community Centre Manager

1 Events Manager

1 Facilities Manager

1 Games Programmer

1 Human Performance Engineer

1 Marine Engineer

1 Population Health Intelligence Analyst

1 Prosthetist & Orthotist

1 Sonographer

1 Youth Worker

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

IT Consultant, Software Engineer, Data Analyst, Cyber Security Specialist, Software Developer, Software Tester, Network Engineer, Data Scientist, Global Data Analyst, Data Product Specialist, Data Architect, Network Architect, Enterprise Architect, Digital Solutions Architect, Technology Architect, Solutions Consultant, Software Implementation Consultant, Software Consultant, Technical Consultant, Functional Consultant, Business Consultant, Project Manager, Project Co-ordinator, Business Intelligence (BI) Developer, Business Systems Developer, Automation Developer, Automation Test Developer, Full Stack Developer, Digital Developer, Prototype Developer, Technology Manager, Legal Technologist, 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, Digital Social Media Executive, Junior Product Manager, Infrastructure Specialist, FinTech Specialist, DevOps Engineer, Solutions Engineer, Digital Solutions Engineer, Hardware Engineer, Systems Engineer, Business Systems Engineer, Automation Engineer, IT Support Engineer, Technical 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, Control Systems 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 and Continuous Improvement & Automation Specialist.

That’s some list (currently 93 different job titles).

Higher Apprenticeships (Levels 4/5):

In total there have been 19,348 new vacancies spread across 160 occupational areas and minimum starting salaries have ranged from £5,002 to £35,000pa (the average being around £17K, except for Sports Coaches which are usually around £10K or lower). The occupational breakdown is as follows:

1,719 Sales Executives

1,326 Data Analysts

1,292 Software Developers

1,262 Accounting Technicians

1,223 Project Management Associates

1,015 Sports Coaches (Children & Young People)

590 Construction Site Supervisors

578 Nursing Associates (Adult or Mental Health)

535 Manufacturing Engineering Technicians

505 Business Analysts

455 Network Engineers

434 Taxation Technicians

425 Quantity Surveying Technicians

370 Cyber Security Technologists

354 Software Testers

352 Commercial Procurement & Supply Practitioners

340 Public Relations & Communications Assistants

298 Civil/Site Engineering Technicians

274 Building Services Engineering Technicians

270 Electrical/Electronic Engineering Technicians

258 Buying & Merchandising Assistants

250 Retail Managers

239 Children/Youth/Family Practitioners

227 Healthcare Associate Practitioners (150 Reablement, 59 Multidisciplinary, 10 Diagnostic Radiography, 5 Speech Therapy, 2 Continuing Healthcare, 1 Occupational Therapy)

219 Investment Operations Specialists

216 DevOps Engineers

216 Insurance Practitioners

206 Marketing Executives

201 Technician Scientists

186 Policy Practitioners

167 Early Years Lead Practitioners

163 Regulatory Compliance Officers

162 Construction Design & Build Technicians

153 Junior Management Consultants

144 Associate Ambulance Practitioners

128 Human Resources Specialists

124 Police Community Support Officers

116 Mineral Products Technicians

114 Healthcare Science Associates (33 Audiology & Hearing Aid Dispensers, 31 Medical Engineering Technicians, 22 Cardiac, Respiratory & Sleep Physiology, 12 Genetics Technicians, 5 Mammography, 3 Tissue Retrieval, 2 Medical Physics, 2 Phlebotomy, 1 Biochemistry, 1 Biomedicine, 1 Neurophysiology, 1 Rehabilitation Engineering)

104 Quality Practitioners

103 Food Technology/Manufacturing Technicians

101 Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability Practitioners

95 Nuclear Technicians

91 Hospitality Managers

90 Railway Engineering Technicians

80 Intelligence Analysts

77 Automotive Engineering/Propulsion Technicians

72 Recruitment Consultants

71 Internal Audit Practitioners

64 Actuarial Technicians

64 Financial Paraplanners

62 Journalists

59 Brewers

57 Vehicle Damage Assessors

52 Adult Social Care Lead Practitioners

52 Automation & Controls Technicians

51 Operations Managers

49 Revenue & Welfare Benefits Officers

47 Learning & Skills Practitioners/Mentors

43 Dairy Technologists

42 Applications Support Leads

37 Business Improvement Practitioners

37 TV/Media Production Co-ordinators

36 Market Research Executives

31 Information Managers

30 Audiovisual Technicians

29 Ordnance Munitions & Explosives Technicians

28 Housing/Property/Lettings Managers

25 Engineer Surveyors

24 Paralegals

23 Estate Agency Negotiators

22 BEMS Controls Engineers (Building Energy Management Systems)

20 Air Traffic Controllers

20 Countryside Rangers

19 Acoustics Technicians

19 Land Referencers

15 Fibre Cable Engineers

15 Smart Energy Engineers

13 Digital Accessibility Specialists

12 Broadcast & Media Systems Technicians

12 Digital Community Managers

11 Film/TV Post-Production Technical Operators

11 Hygiene Specialists

10 Employability Practitioners

10 Football Coaches

9 Counter Fraud Investigators

9 Engineering Maintenance Technicians

9 Facilities Managers

9 Naval Architects / Marine Engineering Technicians

9 Railway/Passenger Transport Operations Managers

8 School Business Professionals

7 Antisocial Behaviour & Community Safety Officers

7 Computer Games Developers

7 Dental Technicians

7 Town Planning Technicians

6 Fire Safety Inspectors

6 Rehabilitation Officers (Visual Impairment)

5 Architectural Technicians

5 Asset Managers

5 Broadcasting Technical Operators

5 Data Protection Practitioners

5 Visual Merchandisers

4 Aircraft Certifying Technicians

4 Gymnastics/Trampoline Coaches & Rebound Therapists

4 Padel Coaches

4 Space Engineering Technicians

4 Tax Technology Technicians

4 Unified Communications Trouble Shooters

3 Culinary Chefs

3 Early Intervention Practitioners

3 Fashion & Textiles Technologists

3 Historic Site Advisers

3 Music Teachers

3 Payroll Associates

3 Pensions Administrators

3 Port Marine Operations Officers

3 Sports Development Officers

3 Utilities Technicians

2 Arboriculturists

2 Auctioneers

2 Building Information Modelling (BIM) Technicians

2 Chaplains

2 Energy Specialists

2 Music Recording Technicians

2 Travel Executives

2 Visual Effects Artists

2 Water Recycling Engineers

1 Chemical Process Technician

1 Clinical Coder

1 Cricket Coach

1 Cultural Heritage Conservation Technician

1 Customs & Foreign Exchange Expert

1 Fitness Club Manager

1 Fitness Instructor

1 Health Informatics Specialist

1 Horticultural / Landscape Design Practitioner

1 Lighting Designer

1 Metrology Technician

1 Outdoor Learning Specialist

1 Process Leader

1 Proposals Co-ordinator

1 Tennis Coach

1 Wedding Accessories Designer

1 Wedding Venue Co-ordinator

Going forward

All being well I will continue posting weekly or fortnightly updates, usually on Sunday nights or Monday mornings. There may be a gap of a week or two later this month as I’ll be abroad, but my searches won’t be disrupted too much.

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