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This report gives a statistical summary of Level 10 apprenticeship vacancies in Scotland posted during the 18-month period between 1^st June 2022 and 30^th November 2023. With a total of 863 vacancies recorded, it offers an insight into the kinds of occupations that have been available and how they’ve been distributed regionally. Degree partners, minimum entry grades and starting salaries are also analysed and for the first time I’ve added a list of all the employers who have had multiple  vacancies posted during the period covered.

201 new vacancies have been added to my cumulative data during this quarter and overall I find the regional spread and the occupational breakdown equally intriguing. For instance, amongst the regional trends I wouldn’t have expected to see the Shetland Islands to be quite so prominent and this prompted me to pick out a photo of Sumburgh Head Lighthouse as my featured image (thanks to Aline Dassel from Pixabay.)

Background

I originally started recording post-18 apprenticeships vacancies in England at the start of 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. I also record other UK-wide apprenticeships of an equivalent level that have vacancies in Scotland. In doing so, I’ve built up an evolving occupational and regional analysis.

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 only include vacancies that are open to school/college-leavers with Scottish Higher or equivalent qualifications and that lead to a degree-level qualification, although I do also count in programmes that lead to Level 10 or 11 on completion but that start at technician-level, which is sometimes the case with Accountancy-related roles in particular.

The big advantage of the apprenticeships.scot website is that the actual number of positions is always provided with every vacancy, which isn’t necessarily the case with those UK-wide employers who don’t use the Scottish site. Hence my data will never be fully reliable because it’s sometimes necessary to make conservative estimates of vacancy numbers for a few of these UK-wide employers, although on a positive note they do always specify the locations in which they’re recruiting.    

Headline data

In the 18-month period from 1^st June 2022 to 30^th November 2023 I recorded:

• 863 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

The 863 vacancies are broken 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 and I think it provides a useful insight into what the prominent and emerging occupations are in an evolving career landscape.

  202 Accountants / Audit Professionals   

  123 Software Engineers/Developers     

    67 Tax Professionals        

    62 Design & Manufacturing Engineers

    57 Civil Engineers 

    52 Business Managers/Consultants

    44 Quantity Surveyors

    35 IT Business Managers (ITMB)

    31 Construction Site Managers

    21 Cyber Security Professionals

    20 AI Data Specialists

    19 IT/Digital Technology Professionals (general)

    18 Retail Leaders

    17 Construction Project Managers

    14 Data Scientists   

    14 Property/Valuation Surveyors

      8 Electrical Power Engineers

      7 Building Surveyors

      6 Instrumentation Measurement & Control Engineers

      5 Banking & Financial Services Professionals

      4 Architectural / Design & Construction Engineers      

      4 Project Managers (general)

      3 Broadcasting & Media Systems Engineers

      3 Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS) Engineers

      3 Building Services Design Engineers

      2 Business Development /Sales Professionals

      2 Digital User Experience (UX) Designers

      2 Early Learning & Childcare Professionals

      2 Electronics Engineers

      2 Food Manufacturing Managers

      2 Food Technologists

      2 Journalists

      2 Multiskilled Engineers

      2 Nuclear Engineers

      2 Supply Chain Professionals    

      1 Human Resources Manager

      1 Logistics Support Engineer

      1 Project Controls Professional

      1 Technical Publications Designer

Analysis by town/city

In terms of location, the 863 apprenticeships advertised in Scotland during this period have been distributed as follows (with council area in brackets):

• 374 Glasgow (Glasgow City)
• 187 Edinburgh (City of Edinburgh)
•   80 Aberdeen (Aberdeen City)
•   22 Perth (Perth & Kinross) 
•   19 Inverness (Highland)
•   17 Livingston (West Lothian)  
•   12 Irvine (North Ayrshire)
•   10 Lerwick (Shetland Islands)
•     8 Motherwell (North Lanarkshire)
•     7 Cumbernauld (North Lanarkshire)
•     7 Glenrothes (Fife)      
•     7 Bellshill (North Lanarkshire)
•     7 Dundee (Dundee City)
•     6 Tweedbank (Scottish Borders)
•     5 Bridge of Weir (Renfrewshire)
•     5 Dunfermline (Fife)
•     5 Helensburgh (Argyll & Bute)
•     5 Stirling (Stirling)
•     4 Coatbridge (North Lanarkshire)
•     4 Inverkeithing (Fife)
•     4 Leven (Fife)
•     4 Paisley (Renfrewshire)
•     4 Turriff (Aberdeenshire)     
•     3 Currie (City of Edinburgh)
•     3 Kelso (Scottish Borders)
•     3 Kirkwall (Orkney Islands)
•     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)    
•     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 Loanhead (Midlothian)
•     1 Lochgilphead (Argyll & Bute)
•     1 Montrose (Angus)
•     1 Oban (Argyll & Bute)   
•     1 Thurso (Highland)
•     1 Wick (Highland)
•     1 Remote-working

Analysis by council area

This list breaks down the same data by council area:

• 375 Glasgow City
• 192 City of Edinburgh
•   80 Aberdeen City
•   27 Fife    
•   27 North Lanarkshire
•   25 Highland
•   25 Perth & Kinross 
•   20 West Lothian
•   13 North Ayrshire
•   10 Aberdeenshire
•   10 Shetland Islands
•     9 Renfrewshire
•     9 Scottish Borders
•     7 Argyll & Bute
•     7 Dundee City
•     5 South Lanarkshire
•     5 Stirling    
•     4 Falkirk
•     3 Angus
•     3 Midlothian
•     3 Orkney Islands
•     2 Dumfries & Galloway
•     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:

• 141 Strathclyde
• 128 Glasgow Caledonian
•   94 Heriot-Watt
•   71 Edinburgh Napier
•   41 Robert Gordon
•   32 BPP 
•   25 Glasgow
•   10 Dundee
•     9 West of Scotland
•     7 Highlands & Islands
•     5 Stirling    
•     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:

• 295   BBBB
•   67   112 points
•   53   104 points
•   52   BBBC
•   52   BBCC    
•   46   120 points
•   35   ABBB
•   23   AAAB
•   15   CCCC   
•   15   96 points
•   11   AABB 
•     7   BBBBC
•     7   BB  
•     3   AAAB/ABBBB    
•     3   BBB
•     3   BBC
•     1   BBBBB  
•     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. (£27,000+ denotes a minimum starting salary of between £27,000 and £27,999, and so on.)

•     3   £27,000+
•     1   £26,000+
•   20   £25,000+
•   20   £24,000+
•   37   £23,000+
•   81   £22,000+  
• 128   £21,000+
•   78   £20,000+
•   62   £19,000+
•   76   £18,000+
•   22   £17,000+
•   12   £16,000+
•   17   £15,000+
•   23   £14,000+
•     4   £13,000+
•     5   £12,000+
•     2   £11,000+
•     7   £10,000+
•     4   £9,000+
•     3   £8,000+

Employers posting multiple vacancies during the period

All of these employers have had nine or more vacancies posted in the 18-month period covered by this report. They’re listed in alphabetical order:

Arcadis	Atkins Realis	BAE Systems
BAM	Barclays	BBC
CGI	Deloitte	EY
Graham Group	Graham & Sibbald	Grant Thornton
JP Morgan	KPMG	McLaughlin & Harvey
Mazars	Morgan Stanley	Morrisons Supermarkets
Public Health Scotland	RSM	SSE
Thales Group

Going forward

All being well I hope to publish further updates on a quarterly basis with the next one in early-March.

© Alan Bullock Careers, 6/12/2023

https://alanbullockcareers.com