Latest reflections on the situation in England

It was an abnormal week partly because the government Find an Apprenticeship website stopped functioning. Initially it showed some vacancies as ‘no longer available’ when you clicked on them, then from Wednesday onwards no new vacancies appeared at all and by Friday all vacancies in England had been wiped off completely. It’s now Monday morning and I’ve just been informed that it’s a technical issue and still being worked on. (Update at 10.30am on Monday: I’m pleased to report that the site is now up and running again.)

In the meantime, I took the opportunity to catch up with other sources I occasionally use and in total I identified 170 new vacancies split equally between DAs and HAs. They included a tranche of new PCDA vacancies with police forces in Durham, Cleveland and Northamptonshire, giving a welcome boost to the regional figures for the East Midlands and North East. The latter is reflected by my choice of featured image from my photo collection. The isle of Wight also figured prominently with some new Nursing and Nursing Associate vacancies, and once again there was a healthy increase in the number of Healthcare Science Practitioner DAs including six more Biomedical Scientists in Leicester and Bristol.  

There was one other surprising development too, with six new Procurement & Supply HAs with the Dept of Work & Pensions advertised at a staggering starting salary of £38,469, breaking all previous records. They’re located in Birmingham, Blackpool, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield and strangely they were the vacancies that first displayed erroneously on the government website as ‘no longer available’, before subsequently re-appearing as live before the whole system then crashed. Although previous experience is likely to be advantageous for these vacancies, there’s nothing in the job or person spec to prevent an exceptional and commercially-aware 18/19-year-old from applying, thereby meeting my criteria for inclusion.  

As a bonus, now that the Find an Apprenticeship site is back up again and a three-day backlog of missing vacancies have been added, next week’s figures should be quite healthy and I’m already looking forward to crunching the numbers.       

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 150 at Levels 4/5
• Northern Ireland: 122 vacancies at Levels 4 to 7

It’s my intention to continue posting quarterly reports for Scotland and Wales, with the next updates due in early-September.    

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 17^th to 23^rd July 2023 I recorded:

• 85 new Degree & L7 Apprenticeship vacancies and
• 85 new Higher Apprenticeship vacancies
• giving a total of 170 for the week

In the 174 weeks since the start of the first COVID-19 lockdown (23^rd March 2020 to 23^rd July 2023) I’ve now recorded:

• 22,316 new Degree Apprenticeships (Levels 6/7) and
• 19,941 new Higher Apprenticeships (Levels 4/5)
• giving a total of 42,257

The average weekly totals in the 174 weeks since the first lockdown have been:

• 128 DAs + 115 HAs = 243 average weekly total 

Updated analysis by county and region

By county (loosely defined), the 42,257 higher and degree apprenticeships advertised in England since the start of lockdown have been distributed as follows:

• Greater London (10,126)
• Yorkshire (3,688)
• West Midlands (2,578)
• Greater Manchester (2,398)
• Bristol & Gloucestershire (1,843)
• Hampshire (1,462)
• Berkshire (1,309)
• Hertfordshire (1,018)
• Surrey (976)
• Cheshire (868)
• Tyne & Wear (840)
• Derbyshire (837)
• Nottinghamshire (817)
• Sussex (793)
• Cambridgeshire (775)
• Essex (730)
• Merseyside (699)
• Devon (685)
• Somerset & South Bristol (614)
• Suffolk (613)
• Warwickshire (589)
• Kent (588)
• Buckinghamshire (579)
• Lancashire (577)
• Wiltshire (543)
• Leicestershire (538)
• Oxfordshire (501)
• Dorset (495)
• Cumbria (483)
• Staffordshire (473)
• Bedfordshire (445)
• County Durham (440)
• Northamptonshire (382)
• Cornwall (369)
• Norfolk (338)
• Worcestershire (309)
• Lincolnshire (297)
• Shropshire (256)
• Northumberland (69)
• Isle of Wight (68)
• Herefordshire (45)
• 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:

• 10,126   London (1,078,600: 9.39)
•   4,549   South West (645,800: 7.04)
•   6,276   South East (1,040,500: 6.03)
•   4,260   West Midlands (720,900: 5.91)
•   3,919   East of England (685,300: 5.72)
•   5,025   North West (884,600: 5.68)  
•   3,696   Yorkshire & The Humber (670,800: 5.51)
•   2,810   East Midlands (593,700: 4.73)
•   1,416   North East (313,000: 4.52)
•        71   Remote-working
•      109   Not specified

• 42,257   Total England (6,633,200: 6.37)

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 22,316 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:

3,879 Police Constables 

2,643 Accountancy/Tax/Audit/Assurance Professionals

1,907 Digital Technology Solutions (general) *see below for details

1,138 Chartered Business Managers & Consultants

1,071 Software Engineers/Developers

  968 Civil Engineers

  775 Chartered Quantity Surveyors 

  730 Nurses (563 Adult, 123 Mental Health, 36 Learning Disability, 8 Child) 

  674 Project Managers

  662 Data Scientists/Analysts

  464 Electrical/Electronic Engineers

  462 Chartered Building/Property/Valuation Surveyors  

  440 Design & Development Engineers

  389 Nuclear Engineers  

  348 Supply Chain Leaders

  310 Building Services Engineers

  306 Cyber/Information Security Professionals

  293 Food & Drink Technologists/Manufacturers

  285 Manufacturing Engineers

  270 Digital Marketing Professionals

  267 Banking/Financial Services/Investment Professionals

  254 Solicitors

  238 Sales Professionals

  226 Laboratory Scientists

  200 Professional Economists

  189 Environmental Practitioners

  188 Healthcare Science Practitioners (41 Biomedical Sciences, 22 Cardiac Physiology, 22 Nuclear Medicine, 20 Radiation & Radiotherapy Physics, 16 Respiratory & Sleep Physiology, 14 Radiation & Radiotherapy Engineering, 13 Audiology, 13 Medical Engineering, 12 Neurophysiology, 5 Digital Healthcare Science, 5 Medical Physics, 3 Clinical Informatics, 1 Rehabilitation Engineering, 1 Renal Technology) 

  183 Aerospace Engineers

  163 Retail Leaders

  157 Railway/Rail Systems Engineers

  149 Construction Managers

  132 Network Engineers

  125 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

    74 Materials Science Technologists/Engineers     

    72 Radiographers (43 Diagnostic, 29 Therapeutic)    

    66 Non-Destructive Testing Engineers

    64 Creative Digital Designers

    62 Podiatrists

    59 Building Control Surveyors

    54 Clinical Trials Specialists

    47 Town Planners

    45 Packaging Professionals 

    44 Broadcast/Communication/Media Systems Engineers

    44 Social Workers 

    42 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 Environmental Health Officers

    34 Human Resources Professionals  

    34 Weapons Munitions & Explosives Engineers

    32 Recruitment Professionals

    27 Geospatial Mapping & Surveying / GIS Professionals

    27 Public Health Practitioners

    26 Architectural Assistants

    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

      4 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, Dynamics 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, Operations Support Analyst, Support Desk Analyst, IT Support Analyst, IT Service Desk 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, 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, now with 99 different job titles.

Higher Apprenticeships (Levels 4/5):

In total there have been 19,941 new vacancies spread across 161 occupational areas and minimum starting salaries have ranged from £5,002 to a whopping £38,469pa (the average being around £17K, except for Sports Coaches which are usually around £10K or lower). The occupational breakdown is as follows: 

1,765 Sales Executives

1,347 Data Analysts

1,312 Software Developers 

1,300 Accounting Technicians

1,246 Project Management Associates

1,055 Sports Coaches (Children & Young People)   

  604 Nursing Associates (Adult/Elderly/Mental Health)

  596 Construction Site Supervisors

  554 Manufacturing Engineering Technicians 

  511 Business Analysts  

  483 Network Engineers

  449 Taxation Technicians

  435 Quantity Surveying Technicians  

  382 Cyber Security Technologists

  365 Commercial Procurement & Supply Practitioners

  359 Software Testers

  348 Public Relations & Communications Assistants

  308 Civil/Site Engineering Technicians

  282 Building Services Engineering Technicians

  270 Electrical/Electronic Engineering Technicians

  258 Buying & Merchandising Assistants

  251 Retail Managers

  244 Children/Youth/Family Practitioners

  228 Healthcare Assistant Practitioners (150 Reablement, 59 Multidisciplinary, 10 Diagnostic Radiography, 5 Speech Therapy, 2 Continuing Healthcare, 1 Occupational Therapy, 1 Stroke Rehabilitation)

  222 DevOps Engineers

  220 Investment Operations Specialists

  219 Insurance Practitioners  

  215 Marketing Executives

  208 Technician Scientists

  187 Policy Practitioners

  180 Early Years Lead Practitioners

  178 Construction Design & Build Technicians

  176 Police Community Support Officers

  173 Junior Management Consultants

  164 Regulatory Compliance Officers

  150 Associate Ambulance Practitioners

  139 Healthcare Science Associates/Technicians (55 Hearing Aid Audiology, 31 Medical Engineering, 14 Genetics, 13 Cardiac Physiology, 10 Respiratory & Sleep Physiology, 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 

  110 Quality Assurance Practitioners

  107 Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability Practitioners 

  103 Food Technology/Manufacturing Technicians 

    95 Nuclear Technicians  

    93 Hospitality Managers

    90 Railway Engineering Technicians

    80 Automotive Engineering/Propulsion Technicians

    80 Intelligence Analysts

    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

    53 Operations Managers   

    52 Adult Social Care Lead Practitioners       

    50 Revenue & Welfare Benefits Officers    

    49 Learning & Skills Practitioners/Mentors   

    43 Dairy Technologists

    42 Applications Support Leads

    40 Business Improvement Practitioners 

    40 Market Research Executives

    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 Facilities Managers

    10 Football Coaches

      9 Counter Fraud Investigators    

      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, 24/7/2023

http://www.alanbullockcareers.com