Analysis of Level 10 Graduate Apprenticeships in Scotland – September 2023 quarterly update

Latest reflections

This report gives a statistical summary of Level 10 or equivalent apprenticeship vacancies in Scotland posted during the 15-month period between 1^st June 2022 (when I first started recording them) and 31^st August 2023. With a total of 662 vacancies recorded, it offers an insight into the kinds of occupations that are available and how they’re distributed regionally. Starting salaries, entry requirements and degree partners are also analysed.

I’ve recorded 52 new vacancies since my last update in June. There’s nothing spectacular to report, but I’ve made a few small adjustments and I think the overall spread is all the more intriguing, not only from an occupational point of view but also regionally. I’ve found it interesting to see how the cumulative list of university partners has been playing out too.

Glasgow wasn’t quite as dominant during this quarter as it was in the previous year and Edinburgh has taken the honours this time, followed by Aberdeen. Hence my featured image is a photo from my own Edinburgh collection. However, whilst the big cities have been the busiest, a total of 57 different locations now feature altogether and they’re spread from the Scottish Borders to the Shetlands.

Background

I originally started recording post-18 apprenticeships vacancies, but only in England, when the country first locked down during the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. That summer I began publishing weekly statistical updates and have been doing so consistently ever since. Then on 1^st June 2022 I also started recording vacancies in the three devolved nations with a view to reporting on these too once I’d collated enough useful data.

For Scotland I keep a record of all new Graduate Apprenticeship vacancies at SCQF Level 10 (and where appropriate Level 11) that I spot during my regular searches, along with other UK-wide apprenticeships of an equivalent level that have vacancies in Scotland. In doing so, I’ve started to build up an evolving occupational and regional analysis. I only include vacancies that would be open to school/college-leavers with Scottish Higher or equivalent qualifications. I largely use information from the Skills Development Scotland (apprenticeships.scot) website whilst also keeping a close lookout for relevant vacancies through my normal UK-wide channels.

I should emphasise that my data will never be fully reliable because for UK-wide employers it’s often necessary to make educated and conservative estimates of vacancy numbers, whereas the data I’ve collated from the excellent apprenticeships.scot site should be fairly accurate. In particular, the data includes apprenticeships with the big national or global accountancy and professional services firms who have offices in Scotland. Their UK-wide vacancies are advertised centrally, but they don’t usually appear on the Skills Development Scotland site and are much more difficult to report on with precise accuracy. Their numbers may therefore be slightly under or overestimated in my overall data.

Headline data

In the 15-month period from 1^st June 2022 to 31^st August 2023 I recorded:

662 new apprenticeship vacancies in Scotland at SCQF Level 10/11 or equivalent that would be open to students leaving school/college after completing Scottish Highers or equivalent qualifications.

Analysis by occupation

I’ve broken the new vacancies down into what I loosely define as ‘occupational areas’, which in some cases differ from official terminology. Since 1^st June 2022 the complete list of occupational areas represented is given below. In my view, this provides an interesting insight into what the emerging occupations are in an evolving career landscape.

130 Accountants/Auditors

88 Software Engineers/Developers

62 Tax Professionals

51 Civil Engineers

47 Design & Manufacturing Engineers

44 Business Managers/Consultants

38 Construction Project/Site Managers

37 Quantity Surveyors

20 Cyber Security Professionals

20 IT Business Managers (ITMB)

18 Chartered Building/Property Surveyors

17 Artificial Intelligence Data Specialists

17 Digital Technology Professionals (general)

16 Data Scientists/Analysts

11 Retail Leaders

8 Electrical Power Engineers

5 Instrumentation Measurement & Control Engineers

4 Architectural / Design & Construction Engineers

3 Banking & Financial Services Professionals

3 Project Managers

3 Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS) Engineers

3 Building Services Design Engineers

2 Early Years Learning Practitioners

2 Food Manufacturing Managers

2 Media Systems Engineers

2 Multiskilled Engineers

2 Nuclear Engineers

2 Supply Chain Professionals

1 Business Development (Sales/Marketing) Manager

1 Digital User Experience (UX) Designer

1 Electronic Engineer

1 Human Resources Manager

1 Internal Auditor

Analysis by town/city

In terms of location, the 662 apprenticeships advertised in Scotland during this period have been distributed as follows (with council area in brackets):

255 Glasgow (Glasgow City)
151 Edinburgh (City of Edinburgh)
67 Aberdeen (Aberdeen City)
16 Perth (Perth & Kinross)
15 Livingston (West Lothian)
12 Inverness (Highland)
12 Irvine (North Ayrshire)
8 Motherwell (North Lanarkshire)
7 Cumbernauld (North Lanarkshire)
7 Glenrothes (Fife)
6 Bellshill (North Lanarkshire)
6 Dundee (Dundee City)
6 Lerwick/Shetlands (Shetland Islands)
5 Bridge of Weir (Renfrewshire)
5 Stirling (Stirling)
5 Tweedbank (Scottish Borders)
4 Coatbridge (North Lanarkshire)
4 Inverkeithing (Fife)
4 Leven (Fife)
3 Currie (City of Edinburgh)
3 Dunfermline (Fife)
3 Helensburgh (Argyll & Bute)
3 Kelso (Scottish Borders)
3 Paisley (Renfrewshire)
3 Peterhead (Aberdeenshire)
3 Rosyth (Fife)
3 Uddingston (South Lanarkshire)
3 Westhill (Aberdeenshire)
2 Auchterarder (Perth & Kinross)
2 Castle Douglas (Dumfries & Galloway)
2 Dalgety Bay (Fife)
2 Dalkeith (Midlothian)
2 Falkirk (Falkirk)
2 Grangemouth (Falkirk)
2 Linlithgow (West Lothian)
2 Newbridge (City of Edinburgh)
2 St Andrews (Fife)
2 Turriff (Aberdeenshire)
1 Arbroath (Angus)
1 Ayr (South Ayrshire)
1 Bathgate (West Lothian)
1 Beith (North Ayrshire)
1 Brechin (Angus)
1 Cambuslang (South Lanarkshire)
1 Crieff (Perth & Kinross)
1 Dingwall (Highland)
1 Dounreay (Highland)
1 Fort William (Highland)
1 Golspie (Highland)
1 Hamilton (South Lanarkshire)
1 Hillington (Glasgow City)
1 Holytown (North Lanarkshire)
1 Kirkwall (Orkney Islands)
1 Loanhead (Midlothian)
1 Lochgilphead (Argyll & Bute)
1 Montrose (Angus)
1 Wick (Highland)
1 Remote-working

Analysis by council area

This list puts the same data into a regional perspective:

256 Glasgow City
156 City of Edinburgh
67 Aberdeen City
26 North Lanarkshire
25 Fife
19 Perth & Kinross
18 West Lothian
17 Highland
13 North Ayrshire
8 Aberdeenshire
8 Renfrewshire
8 Scottish Borders
6 Dundee City
6 Shetland Islands
5 South Lanarkshire
5 Stirling
4 Argyll & Bute
4 Falkirk
3 Angus
3 Midlothian
2 Dumfries & Galloway
1 Orkney Islands
1 South Ayrshire
1 Remote-working
0 Clackmannanshire
0 East Ayrshire
0 East Dunbartonshire
0 East Lothian
0 East Renfrewshire
0 Inverclyde
0 Moray
0 Outer Hebrides
0 West Dunbartonshire

Analysis by university partners

This is a list of universities or other education/training providers who have partnered with employers in the delivery of the apprenticeships listed above, where this was known:

111 Glasgow Caledonian
96 Strathclyde
92 Heriot-Watt
59 Edinburgh Napier
39 Robert Gordon
20 BPP
20 Glasgow
10 Dundee
7 Highlands & Islands
5 Stirling
5 West of Scotland
2 Babington
2 National College for Nuclear (Somerset)
2 Sheffield Hallam
1 Coventry
1 University College of Estate Management
1 West of England (Bristol)

Analysis by minimum entry requirements

This is a simplified list of stated minimum entry requirements (where known), expressed as either Scottish Higher grades or UCAS points, and the number of apprenticeship vacancies requiring them:

255 BBBB
61 112 points
49 104 points
47 BBCC
34 BBBC
33 120 points
22 AAAB
21 ABBB
15 CCCC
12 96 points
7 BB
6 BBBBC
4 AABB
3 AAAB/ABBBB
3 BBB
3 BBC
1 CCC
1 CC
1 128 points

Analysis by minimum starting salaries

In this table I’ve listed the aggregated minimum starting salaries for all vacancies for which this information was available. (£20,000+ denotes a minimum starting salary of between £20,000 and £20,999 and so on.)