Latest reflections on the situation in England

I was expecting a quiet week, but it turned out to be more interesting than anticipated with an unusual selection of new vacancies. The highlights included:

• An AI Technical Sales Adviser DA in St Albans, which became the 98^th specialism in my Digital Technology Solutions list
• An Audiovisual Technician HA in Worksop, bringing the total to 37 for an occupation that only first appeared in my listings last October
• A batch of Hearing Aid Dispenser HAs with a private-sector provider based around the Doncaster area, including residential training in Buxton
• An Assistant Archivist DA at The Royal National Theatre
• For the second time, a Cricket Coach HA with the MCC working with children in London and based at the indoor cricket centre at Lord’s
• And a big cohort of Police Constable Degree Apprentices with Suffolk Constabulary. I had already included this in my recent round-up of PCDA vacancies with police forces around the country, but that round-up was mainly based on very conservative estimates of numbers. This week it turned out that the Suffolk force has 80 places available on a rolling basis in partnership with Anglia Ruskin University, so I’ve topped up my figures accordingly.

Whilst on the one hand all of this sounds like a very positive news story, another element that all of the above vacancies have in common is that they’re certainly not specifically aimed at 18-year-old school or college leavers, albeit that such applicants would not be excluded if they can demonstrate that they meet the criteria. I think this is very much an ongoing theme in the apprenticeships market-place that needs to be kept in mind.    

From a regional perspective Yorkshire was very prominent again in Week 172, while Leicestershire punched well above its weight with some significant activity around Castle Donington and Ashby-de-la-Zouch in particular. However, the PCDA vacancies prompted me to pick out a recent photo I took in Suffolk as this week’s featured image. The pub in the picture is reputed to be the oldest one in the county and I was there for a wedding reception a few weeks ago. This week’s challenge, to test out whether anybody’s actually reading this, is to name its location.

In other news I’ve just been reading Chris Webb’s latest ‘Week in #Careers’ update, as I always do, and I was interested in his reflections on LMI from an economist’s perspective, particularly the benefits of focusing on key trends rather than specific data points. It got me reflecting on the limitations of my own data, which with the best will in the world looks backwards rather than forwards. But hopefully my listings do help to identify and track emerging occupations and to spot trends, with the 98 Digital Technology specialisms and 37 Audiovisual Technicians being cases in point. I can’t predict the future, but my premise is that in order to do so we need to have a handle on the present. That’s my excuse anyway! Nonetheless the item did provide food for thought. I expect most people who keep an eye on my weekly updates will also be familiar with Chris’s, but if you’re not then here’s a link to his latest round-up:

https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/the-week-in-careers-6967446753788764163/

Finally, I also want to give a quick plug to the other hat I wear and specifically to my three articles on UCAS personal statements. They’re based on ones I originally wrote for the much-loved Which? University website, sadly no longer with us, but the articles still seem to be remarkably popular and I re-published them this weekend for the benefit of 2024 applicants. Here’s a link to them if anyone’s interested:

My three UCAS personal statement articles

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland updates

Having tracked vacancies in the three other home nations continuously since 1^st June 2022, my latest running totals are as follows:

• Scotland: 640 vacancies at SQF Levels 10/11
• Wales: 109 vacancies at Levels 6/7 and 144 at Levels 4/5
• Northern Ireland: 122 vacancies at Levels 4 to 7

My most recent Scotland and Wales reports were posted in early-June and all being well I intend to publish a quarterly update for both nations early in September. Scotland in particular is shaping up well and I’m hoping to include an interesting new feature in my next Scotland report. As for Northern Ireland, I’m still waiting until my data becomes more reliable before I report on it.   

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 3^rd to 8^th July 2023 I recorded:

• 143 new Degree & L7 Apprenticeship vacancies and
• 109 new Higher Apprenticeship vacancies
• giving a total of 252 for the two weeks

In the 172 weeks since the start of the first COVID-19 lockdown (23^rd March 2020 to 8^th July 2023) I’ve now recorded:

• 22,197 new Degree Apprenticeships (Levels 6/7) and
• 19,783 new Higher Apprenticeships (Levels 4/5)
• giving a total of 41,980

The average weekly totals in the 172 weeks since the first lockdown have been:

• 129 DAs + 115 HAs = 244 average weekly total 

Updated analysis by county and region

By county (loosely defined), the 41,980 higher and degree apprenticeships advertised in England since the start of lockdown have been distributed as follows:

• Greater London (10,098)
• Yorkshire (3,655)
• West Midlands (2,575)
• Greater Manchester (2,387)
• Bristol & Gloucestershire (1,828)
• Hampshire (1,456)
• Berkshire (1,303)
• Hertfordshire (1,013)
• Surrey (970)
• Cheshire (867)
• Tyne & Wear (838)
• Derbyshire (831)
• Nottinghamshire (808)
• Sussex (792)
• Cambridgeshire (768)
• Essex (720)
• Merseyside (697)
• Devon (684)
• Somerset & South Bristol (611)
• Suffolk (608)
• Warwickshire (587)
• Kent (578)
• Lancashire (573)
• Buckinghamshire (572)
• Wiltshire (540)
• Leicestershire (529)
• Oxfordshire (498)
• Dorset (491)
• Cumbria (482)
• Staffordshire (471)
• Bedfordshire (444)
• County Durham (421)
• Cornwall (368)
• Northamptonshire (362)
• Norfolk (335)
• Worcestershire (306)
• Lincolnshire (295)
• Shropshire (254)
• Northumberland (69)
• Isle of Wight (59)
• Herefordshire (43)
• Rutland (14)
• Remote-working with no central base (71)
• Not specified (109) 

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:

• 10,098   London (1,078,600: 9.36)
•   4,522   South West (645,800: 7.00)
•   6,228   South East (1,040,500: 5.99)
•   4,236   West Midlands (720,900: 5.88)
•   3,888   East of England (685,300: 5.67)
•   5,006   North West (884,600: 5.66)  
•   3,670   Yorkshire & Humber (670,800: 5.47)
•   2,764   East Midlands (593,700: 4.66)
•   1,388   North East (313,000: 4.43)
•        71   Remote-working
•      109   Not specified

• 41,980   Total England (6,633,200: 6.33)

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 22,197 new vacancies spread across 124 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:

3,839 Police Constables 

2,636 Accountancy/Tax/Audit/Assurance Professionals

1,896 Digital Technology Solutions (general) *see below for details

1,134 Chartered Business Managers & Consultants

1,070 Software Engineers/Developers

  965 Civil Engineers

  773 Chartered Quantity Surveyors 

  718 Nurses (554 Adult, 122 Mental Health, 35 Learning Disability, 7 Child) 

  673 Project Managers

  662 Data Scientists/Analysts/Engineers

  463 Electrical/Electronic Engineers

  462 Chartered Building/Property/Valuation Surveyors  

  440 Design & Development Engineers

  389 Nuclear Engineers  

  348 Supply Chain Leaders

  306 Building Services Engineers

  305 Cyber/Information Security Professionals

  293 Food & Drink Technologists/Manufacturers

  282 Manufacturing Engineers

  267 Banking/Financial Services/Investment Professionals

  266 Digital Marketing Professionals

  254 Solicitors

  236 Sales Professionals

  225 Laboratory Scientists

  200 Professional Economists

  188 Environmental Practitioners

  183 Aerospace Engineers

  176 Healthcare Science Practitioners (35 Biomedical Sciences, 22 Nuclear Medicine, 21 Cardiac Physiology, 19 Radiation & Radiotherapy Physics, 14 Radiation & Radiotherapy Engineering, 14 Respiratory & Sleep Physiology, 13 Medical Engineering, 12 Audiology, 12 Neurophysiology, 5 Digital Healthcare Science, 4 Medical Physics Technology, 3 Clinical Informatics, 1 Rehabilitation Engineering, 1 Renal Technology) 

  163 Retail Leaders

  157 Railway/Rail Systems Engineers

  149 Construction Managers

  132 Network Engineers

  124 Operating Department Practitioners (NHS)

  102 Electro-Mechanical/Mechatronics Engineers

    94 Automation & Control Engineers   

    90 Project Controls Professionals

    85 Digital User Experience (UX) Designers   

    84 Occupational Therapists

    73 Materials Science Technologists/Engineers     

    72 Radiographers (43 Diagnostic, 29 Therapeutic)    

    66 Non-Destructive Testing Engineers

    64 Creative Digital Designers

    61 Podiatrists

    59 Building Control Surveyors

    53 Clinical Trials Specialists

    47 Town Planners

    45 Packaging Professionals 

    44 Broadcast/Communication/Media Systems Engineers

    44 Social Workers 

    40 Land Agents (Chartered Rural Surveyors)

    40 Manufacturing/Production Managers (non-food)

    39 Architectural Technologists (Design & Construction)

    39 Chemical Engineers     

    35 Transport Planners    

    34 Business Analysts  

    34 Human Resources Professionals  

    34 Weapons Munitions & Explosives Engineers

    33 Environmental Health Officers

    32 Recruitment Professionals

    27 Public Health Practitioners

    26 Architectural Assistants

    26 Geospatial Mapping & Surveying / GIS Professionals

    26 Physiotherapists

    24 Marketing/Brand Managers

    23 Geotechnical Engineers

    19 Fire Safety Engineers

    18 Insurance Professionals

    18 Journalists

    15 Forestry Professionals

    11 Midwives      

    11 Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners

    10 Dietitians

      9 Business Managers (Social Change)

      9 Propulsion Engineers

      9 Sports Business Managers

      8 Agricultural/Horticultural Advisers

      8 Gas Transmission Engineers

      7 Land Buyers

      7 Speech & Language Therapists

      6 Actuarial Professionals     

      6 Sport Development Officers

      5 Chartered Legal Executives   

      5 Fitness/Leisure Centre Managers

      5 Operations Analysts

      4 Assistant Buyers

      4 Assistant Teachers / Learning Coaches

      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 Assistant Archivist

      1 Charity Manager

      1 Community Centre Manager

      1 Events Manager

      1 Facilities Manager

      1 Games Programmer

      1 Health & Safety Practitioner

      1 Human Performance Engineer 

      1 Marine Engineer

      1 Population Health Intelligence Analyst

      1 Prosthetist & Orthotist

      1 Sonographer 

      1 Trading Standards Officer  

      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 Consultant, Software Implementation Consultant, Technical Consultant, Functional Consultant, Business Consultant, Application Management Consultant, Project Manager, Project Co-ordinator, Application Developer, 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, AI Technical Sales Adviser, 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, Associate Digital Delivery Manager, Digital Manufacturing Engineer, Electronic Systems Design & Development Engineer, Solution Engineering & Development Specialist, Client Delivery Specialist, Client Success Specialist, Client Consultant, Microsoft Dynamics & Power Applications Consultant, Microsoft 365 Product Specialist, Operations Resilience & Change Specialist, Innovation Foundry Specialist, and Continuous Improvement & Automation Specialist.

That’s some list! Another was added this week, bringing the total to 98 different job titles.

Higher Apprenticeships (Levels 4/5):

In total there have been 19,783 new vacancies spread across 161 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: 

1,759 Sales Executives

1,342 Data Analysts

1,305 Software Developers 

1,296 Accounting Technicians

1,233 Project Management Associates

1,040 Sports Coaches (Children & Young People)   

  597 Nursing Associates (Adult/Elderly/Mental Health)

  594 Construction Site Supervisors

  547 Manufacturing Engineering Technicians 

  509 Business Analysts  

  480 Network Engineers

  445 Taxation Technicians

  434 Quantity Surveying Technicians  

  375 Cyber Security Technologists

  357 Software Testers

  356 Commercial Procurement & Supply Practitioners

  345 Public Relations & Communications Assistants

  305 Civil/Site Engineering Technicians

  280 Building Services Engineering Technicians

  270 Electrical/Electronic Engineering Technicians

  258 Buying & Merchandising Assistants

  250 Retail Managers

  242 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 DevOps Engineers

  219 Investment Operations Specialists

  218 Insurance Practitioners  

  213 Marketing Executives

  205 Technician Scientists

  187 Policy Practitioners

  176 Early Years Lead Practitioners

  176 Police Community Support Officers

  172 Construction Design & Build Technicians

  164 Regulatory Compliance Officers

  153 Junior Management Consultants

  150 Associate Ambulance Practitioners

  135 Healthcare Science Associates (54 Hearing Aid Audiology, 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)

  128 Human Resources Specialists 

  123 Mineral Products Technicians 

  109 Quality Assurance Practitioners

  105 Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability Practitioners 

  103 Food Technology/Manufacturing Technicians 

    95 Nuclear Technicians  

    93 Hospitality Managers

    90 Railway Engineering Technicians

    80 Intelligence Analysts

    79 Automotive Engineering/Propulsion Technicians

    75 Internal Audit Practitioners

    72 Recruitment Consultants

    65 Actuarial Technicians

    64 Financial Paraplanners   

    63 Journalists

    61 Brewers 

    58 Vehicle Damage Assessors     

    57 Automation & Controls Engineering Technicians

    52 Adult Social Care Lead Practitioners       

    52 Operations Managers   

    49 Learning & Skills Practitioners/Mentors

    49 Revenue & Welfare Benefits Officers    

    43 Dairy Technologists

    42 Applications Support Leads

    40 Market Research Executives

    39 Business Improvement Practitioners 

    37 Audiovisual Technicians

    37 TV/Media Production Co-ordinators

    32 Housing/Property/Lettings Managers

    31 Information Managers    

    29 Ordnance Munitions & Explosives Technicians

    26 BEMS Controls Engineers (Building Energy Management Systems)

    25 Engineer Surveyors

    24 Paralegals

    23 Estate Agency Negotiators

    20 Air Traffic Controllers

    20 Countryside Rangers

    20 Land Referencers 

    19 Acoustics Technicians

    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 Engineering Maintenance Technicians

    10 Football Coaches

      9 Counter Fraud Investigators    

      9 Facilities Managers

      9 Naval Architects / Marine Engineering Technicians

      9 Railway/Passenger Transport Operations Managers

      8 Antisocial Behaviour & Community Safety Officers

      8 School Business Professionals     

      7 Computer Games Developers

      7 Dental Technicians

      7 Town Planning Technicians 

      6 Data Protection Practitioners     

      6 Fire Safety Inspectors

      6 Rehabilitation Officers (Visual Impairment) 

      5 Architectural Technicians

      5 Asset Managers

      5 Broadcasting Technical Operators

      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 Cricket Coaches

      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 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 Junior Animator

      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.     

© Alan Bullock Careers, 9/7/2023

http://www.alanbullockcareers.com