Latest reflections on the situation in England 

This is always a busy and intriguing time of year, with every week seeing more annual recruiters coming on stream albeit sometimes with modest numbers. This week these included DHL Supply Chain, National Highways, J Murphy & Sons and Tarmac, and between them these four spanned quite a wide range of occupations and an unusual selection of locations such as Snodland, Alrewas, Oakham, Golborne, Leyhill, Stanford-le-Hope and the Isle of Sheppey to name just a few.

My cumulative occupational and regional data also benefitted from some upward and downward adjustments, mainly upward, following the emergence of more precise vacancy numbers from three of the bigger national employers. As a consequence of this, Accountancy/Tax/Audit DA numbers have now passed 5,000 vacancies in my listings, while simultaneously Digital Technology Solutions (general) DAs reached 3,000.

Another prominent occupation that had a boost this week was Nursing Associate HAs, with a substantial crop of new vacancies posted by North Bristol NHS Trust. This also reinforced my perception that Bristol’s northern fringe is the undisputed leading hotspot in Britain for degree and higher apprenticeships.    

At the other end of the scale there was another Historic Environment Advice Assistant HA bringing the total to seven, most of them in the last few weeks. There’s an ecclesiastical theme going on here, with a recent vacancy based at Ely Cathedral in Cambridgeshire and this week’s being posted by the Diocese of Exeter and based in the city’s cathedral cloisters. I’m not sure how much chance a recent sixth form or college leaver would have of being selected for this post, but there’s nothing in the spec that excludes them and the main academic requirement is a grade C in A-level History, which you don’t see very often these days in a largely STEM-dominated landscape. It has also given me a reason to choose a photo I took of the frontage of Exeter Cathedral several years ago as my featured image.          

As for the AI reference in the headline, it was something that attracted my attention in the Requirements section of one of this week’s new HA vacancies for a Cyber Security Analyst. It gave the following advice about the application process:

“If you are using AI to generate your answers, please make sure you personalise them. Using AI generated answers looks like you have not made an effort and may lead to you not being short-listed for the role.”

Is this just a one-off I wonder, or is it something that could be a prominent theme going forward? Clearly this employer has had cause to put it in the job spec and presumably has been receiving job applications that sound like a robot has written them. I would be interested to hear if anyone else has seen this issue arise.  

Finally this week, there are still some subtle shifts taking place in my comparative regional data and it’s something I might comment on further in the weeks ahead.    

Latest update on Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

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

• Scotland: 863 vacancies at SQF Levels 10/11
• Wales: 229 vacancies at Levels 6/7 and 171 at Levels 4/5
• Northern Ireland: 161 vacancies at Levels 6/7 and 26 at Levels 4/5

My 18-month Scotland report was published last Wednesday and you can find it here:

Analysis of Level 10 Graduate Apprenticeships in Scotland – update after 18 months

I haven’t yet had time to compile the promised Wales and Northern Ireland update and my data for both nations is still a bit less reliable than I’d like it to be. However, I haven’t stopped recording new vacancies and I would always be happy to share my information or data with any interested colleagues until such time as I actually publish something.                  

Background  

Since 1^st January 2020 I’ve kept a record of degree and higher 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 a very close eye on other national vacancy sources.

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 in their final year of school/college or after gaining up to 12 months’ temporary experience.    

I use the term ‘work-ready’ because academic qualifications alone are never enough to compete successfully for a higher or degree apprenticeship. A UCAS points score of 112 is the most frequently quoted minimum entry requirement for DAs (sometimes more and often less), but 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. For that reason and others my reports always come with flaws, caveats and some editorial licence. However, I think the analyses I’ve built up paint a unique, intriguing and representative picture of what’s out there in a changing post-18 career landscape, as well as conveying a fairly realistic sense of comparative scale from both an occupational and regional perspective. 

As a general observation I think it’s fair to say that there will never be enough degree apprenticeships to meet the potential demand, while there are also distinct regional variations. To a certain extent there’s probably a mismatch between students’ aspirations and the actual occupations available as well, which occasionally leads to reports of some of the less popular vacancies being hard to fill. In addition, only about 25% of overall apprenticeship vacancies are taken up by under-19s, which partly explains why my cumulative data falls well short of any official data based on apprenticeship starts. Meanwhile, a proportion of those Level 3 students who do take up apprenticeships will start on Level 3 programmes rather than progressing directly to Level 4 or above.

One further significant observation is that NHS and other healthcare roles have become increasingly prominent in my data over time, thanks especially to the NHS Jobs website. However, these vacancies often stretch my criteria to the limit in terms of the maturity and experience they look for. Occasionally school/college leavers are actually mentioned in the person spec, but more often they’re aimed at people with at least a few months’ experience or more. However, I’ve worked with a lot of young students in the past, especially those on Level 3 courses in the health and care field and/or those with significant work/voluntary experience or caring responsibilities, who could probably make a very competitive application for such roles. Hence I do include these vacancies if I think a mature 18/19-year-old might be considered, especially within a year of leaving school or college.

Headline data

In England during the latest period from 4^th to 10^th December 2023 I recorded:

• 463 new Degree/Professional Apprenticeship vacancies (Levels 6/7) and
• 117 new Higher Apprenticeship vacancies (Levels 4/5)
• giving a total of 580 for the week

In the 206 weeks from 1^st January 2020 to 10^th December 2023 I’ve now recorded:

• 29,732 new Degree/Professional Apprenticeships (Levels 6/7) and
• 23,310 new Higher Apprenticeships (Levels 4/5)
• giving a total of 53,042

The average weekly totals across all 206 weeks have been:

• 144 DAs + 113 HAs = 257 average weekly total 

Updated analysis by county and region

By county (loosely defined) the 53,042 higher and degree apprenticeships advertised in England since January 2020 have been distributed as follows:

• Greater London (12,095)
• Yorkshire (4,661)
• West Midlands (3,395)
• Greater Manchester (3,024)
• Bristol & Gloucestershire (2,611)
• Hampshire (1,830)
• Berkshire (1,827)
• Hertfordshire (1,271)
• Surrey (1,244)
• Cheshire (1,140)
• Tyne & Wear (1,082)
• Cumbria (1,029)
• Cambridgeshire (1,018)
• Nottinghamshire (985)
• Derbyshire (967)
• Sussex (965)
• Merseyside (906)
• Lancashire (876)
• Essex (844)
• Suffolk (804)
• Devon (798)
• Buckinghamshire (728)
• Somerset & South Bristol (700)
• Dorset (689)
• Kent (667)
• Leicestershire (651)
• Warwickshire (649)
• Staffordshire (610)
• Wiltshire (602)
• Oxfordshire (597)
• Bedfordshire (596)
• County Durham (490)
• Northamptonshire (429)
• Cornwall (400)
• Norfolk (395)
• Worcestershire (381)
• Lincolnshire (357)
• Shropshire (318)
• Isle of Wight (73)
• Northumberland (72)
• Herefordshire (56)
• Rutland (15)
• Remote-working with no central base (75)
• Not specified (120) 

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 January 2020 per 1,000 of that population and the regions are then ‘ranked’ accordingly:

• 12,095   London (1,078,600: 11.21)
•   5,800   South West (645,800: 8.98)
•   6,975   North West (884,600: 7.88)  
•   7,931   South East (1,040,500: 7.62)  
•   5,409   West Midlands (720,900: 7.50)
•   4,928   East of England (685,300: 7.19)
•   4,674   Yorkshire & The Humber (670,800: 6.97)
•   3,311   East Midlands (593,700: 5.58)
•   1,724   North East (313,000: 5.51)
•        75   Remote-working
•      120   Not specified

• 53,042   Total England (6,633,200: 8.00) 

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 January 2020 is given below for both degree and higher apprenticeships.

Degree/Professional Apprenticeships (Levels 6/7):

In total there have been 29,732 new vacancies spread across 112 occupational areas and minimum starting salaries have ranged from £5,590 to £36,775pa, with the average being somewhere in the middle at around £19K. The occupational breakdown is as follows:

5,104 Accountancy/Tax/Audit Professionals

4,496 Police Constables 

3,011 Digital Technology Solutions (general) *see below for details

1,393 Chartered Business Managers (general)

1,210 Software Engineers/Developers

1,161 Civil Engineers

  975 Project Managers (general)

  895 Chartered Quantity Surveyors

  825 Data Scientists/Analysts/Engineers

  762 Nurses (593 Adult, 124 Mental Health, 37 Learning Disability, 8 Child) 

  630 Nuclear Engineers/Scientists  

  576 Electrical/Electronic Engineers 

  510 Design & Development Engineers

  433 Manufacturing Engineers

  410 Supply Chain Leaders

  405 Banking/Financial Services/Investment Professionals

  381 Aerospace Engineers

  377 Chartered Project Management Surveyors

  356 Food & Drink Technologists/Manufacturers

  351 Cyber Security Professionals

  350 Building Services Engineers

  341 Solicitors

  311 Digital Marketing Professionals

  283 Professional Economists

  273 Sales Professionals

  264 Laboratory Scientists

  244 Retail Leaders

  213 Environmental Practitioners

  204 Healthcare Science Practitioners (42 Biomedical Sciences, 27 Cardiac Physiology, 24 Nuclear Medicine, 23 Radiation Physics, 18 Respiratory & Sleep Physiology, 17 Radiation Engineering, 13 Audiology, 13 Medical Engineering, 12 Neurophysiology, 5 Digital Healthcare Science, 5 Medical Physics, 3 Clinical Informatics, 1 Rehabilitation Engineering, 1 Renal Technology)   

  182 Chartered Building Surveyors 

  175 Electro-Mechanical/Mechatronics Engineers

  171 Construction Managers

  167 Railway/Rail Systems Engineers

  155 Project Controls Professionals

  136 Operating Department Practitioners (NHS)

  116 Automation & Control Engineers   

  115 Radiographers (62 Diagnostic, 53 Therapeutic)

    97 Digital User Experience (UX) Designers   

    95 Occupational Therapists

    93 Materials Science Technologists/Engineers     

    76 Hotel/Hospitality Chartered Managers 

    75 Non-Destructive Testing Engineers

    70 Podiatrists

    69 Creative Digital Designers    

    67 Chemical Engineers   

    62 Building Control Surveyors

    62 Town Planners

    58 Packaging Professionals 

    58 Social Workers

    54 Clinical Trials Specialists

    53 Broadcast/Communication/Media Systems Engineers

    47 Land Agents (Chartered Rural Surveyors)

    44 Human Resources Professionals  

    41 Environmental Health Officers

    40 Manufacturing/Production Managers (non-food)

    39 Architectural Technologists (Design & Construction)

    38 Transport Planners    

    35 Weapons Munitions & Explosives Engineers

    32 Geospatial/Land Surveyors

    32 Recruitment Professionals

    31 Journalists   

    30 Public Health Practitioners

    29 Architectural Assistants

    27 Physiotherapists

    25 Marketing/Brand Managers

    24 Aerospace Software Engineers

    23 Fire Safety Engineers

    23 Geotechnical Engineers

    18 Insurance Professionals

    15 Forestry Professionals

    13 Environmental Engineers

    13 Midwives

    13 Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners

    11 Chartered Managers (Sports Business)

    10 Dietitians

      9 Chartered Managers (Social Change)     

      9 Propulsion Engineers

      8 Agricultural/Horticultural Advisers

      8 Gas Transmission Engineers

      7 Land Buyers

      7 Speech & Language Therapists

      6 Actuarial Professionals     

      6 Chartered Legal Executives   

      6 Sport Development Officers

      5 Fitness/Leisure Centre Managers

      5 Operations Analysts

      5 Trading Standards Officers  

      4 Assistant Buyers

      4 Assistant Teachers / Learning Coaches

      4 Building Information Modelling (BIM) Specialists      

      3 Assistant Archivists

      3 Digital Transformation Engineers

      3 Education Technology Specialists

      3 Orthotists/Prosthetists

      3 TV Production Managers

      2 Licensed Conveyancers

      2 Lighting Designers

      2 Pensions Professionals

      2 Youth Workers

      1 AI Data Specialist

      1 Charity Manager

      1 Community Centre Manager

      1 Community Safety Officer

      1 Events Manager

      1 Facilities Manager

      1 Games Programmer

      1 Health & Safety Practitioner

      1 Human Performance Engineer 

      1 Population Health Intelligence Analyst

      1 Robotics Engineer

      1 Service Designer      

      1 Sonographer

*DAs in Digital Technology Solutions (DTS) open up a wide range of roles. Some vacancies specify the role, while others are flexible. The three most frequently specified roles have been Software Engineer/Developer, Data Analyst and Cyber Security Specialist and I’ve recorded these as three separate occupations in my DA listings above (Data Analysts being merged in with Data Scientists and Data Engineers for the purposes of my reports). Meanwhile, those DAs listed as Digital Technology Solutions (general) are either flexible or they lead to other specific roles. The following is a list of all the DTS roles I’ve recorded since 2020 and it now encompasses 108 different job titles:

Software Engineer, Software Developer, Software Tester, Cyber Security Specialist, Data Analyst, IT Consultant, 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, Technology Consultant, Functional Consultant, Business Consultant, Dynamics Consultant, Security Consultant, Application Management Consultant, Project Manager, Project Co-ordinator, Digital Project Delivery Support, 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, Application 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 / NetOps 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, Infrastructure Engineer, Sales Engineer, Sales Account Manager, Sales Operations Manager, Sales Data Analyst, AI Technical Sales Adviser, Scientific Computing Specialist, Platform Manager, Service Manager, Engineering Information Manager, Information Management Technology Specialist, Control Systems Specialist, Rail Signal 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, IT Governance & Applications Support Specialist, Operations Resilience & Change Specialist, Innovation Foundry Specialist, and Continuous Improvement & Automation Specialist.

Higher Apprenticeships (Levels 4/5):

In total there have been 23,310 new vacancies spread across 1498 occupational areas and minimum starting salaries have ranged from £5,002 to an unbelievably astronomical £48,369pa. However, the average is around £17K, except for Sports Coaches which are usually around £10K or lower. The occupational breakdown is as follows: 

1,944 Sales Executives

1,556 Accounting Technicians

1,519 Software Developers 

1,510 Data Analysts

1,430 Project Management Associates

1,130 Sports Coaches (Children & Young People)   

  789 Nursing Associates (Adult/Elderly/Mental Health/Learning Disability)

  693 Construction Site Supervisors

  673 Manufacturing Engineering Technicians 

  595 Quantity Surveying Technicians  

  580 Network Engineers

  573 Taxation Technicians

  567 Business Analysts  

  450 Cyber Security Technologists

  444 Commercial Procurement & Supply Practitioners

  417 Software Testers

  407 Public Relations & Communications Assistants

  378 Civil/Site Engineering Technicians

  328 Social Care Practitioners (Adults/Children/Families/Young People)

  321 Electrical/Electronic Technician Engineers

  321 Investment Operations Specialists

  316 Building Services Engineering Technicians

  315 Insurance Practitioners  

  278 Buying & Merchandising Assistants

  269 Junior Management Consultants

  259 Healthcare Assistant Practitioners (150 Reablement, 69 Multidisciplinary, 12 Diagnostic Imaging, 6 Mammography, 6 Podiatry, 5 Speech Therapy, 3 Continuing Healthcare, 3 Intensive Care, 2 Dietetic Speech & Language, 1 Maternity Support Worker,  1 Occupational Therapy, 1 Stroke Rehabilitation)

  259 Technician Scientists

  257 Retail Managers  

  234 DevOps Engineers

  233 Marketing Executives

  229 Construction Design & Build Technicians

  200 Policy Practitioners

  195 Police Community Support Officers

  193 Early Years Lead Practitioners

  177 Regulatory Compliance Officers

  171 Associate Ambulance Practitioners

  149 Healthcare Science Associates/Technicians (60 Audiology & Hearing Aid Dispensers, 31 Medical Engineering, 19 Cardiac & Respiratory Physiology, 14 Genetics, 12 Respiratory & Sleep Physiology, 4 Tissue Retrieval, 2 Medical Physics, 2 Phlebotomy, 1 Biochemistry, 1 Biomedicine, 1 Neurophysiology, 1 Nuclear Medicine, 1 Rehabilitation Engineering)

  147 Mineral Products Technicians 

  141 Railway Engineering Technicians

  137 Human Resources Specialists 

  128 Quality Assurance Practitioners

  125 Food Technology/Manufacturing Technicians 

  116 Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability Practitioners

  113 Hospitality Managers

  113 Nuclear Technicians  

    90 Internal Audit Practitioners

    87 Automotive Engineering/Propulsion Technicians

    84 Actuarial Technicians

    82 Journalists   

    80 Intelligence Analysts   

    73 Recruitment Consultants

    72 Vehicle Damage Assessors

    69 Brewers 

    65 Financial Paraplanners   

    64 Automation & Controls Engineering Technicians

    59 Business Operations Managers   

    57 Applications Support Leads

    57 Revenues & Welfare Benefits Officers    

    55 Audiovisual Technicians

    52 Learning & Skills Practitioners/Mentors   

    48 Market Research Executives

    47 Business Improvement Practitioners 

    43 Dairy Technologists

    43 Information Managers 

    43 TV/Media Production Co-ordinators   

    36 Housing/Property/Lettings Managers

    32 BEMS Controls Engineers (Building Energy Management Systems)

    31 Ordnance Munitions & Explosives Technicians

    30 Air Traffic Controllers   

    29 Engineering Maintenance Technicians

    26 Paralegals

    25 Engineer Surveyors

    24 Estate Agency Negotiators

    23 Countryside Rangers

    21 Land Referencers 

    19 Acoustics Technicians

    18 Digital Community Managers

    17 Digital Accessibility Specialists   

    15 Fibre Cable Engineers

    15 Smart Energy Engineers

    12 Broadcast & Media Systems Technicians

    12 Facilities Managers

    11 Film/TV Post-Production Technical Operators

    11 Football Coaches

    11 Gymnastics Coaches

    11 Hygiene Specialists

    10 Employability Practitioners

      9 Counter Fraud Investigators    

      9 Naval Architects / Marine Engineering Technicians

      9 Railway/Passenger Transport Operations Managers

      8 Antisocial Behaviour & Community Safety Officers

      8 Data Protection Officers     

      8 School Business Professionals     

      8 Town Planning Technicians 

      7 Computer Games Developers

      7 Dental Technicians

      7 Fire Safety Inspectors

      7 Historic Environment Advice Assistants

      7 Port Marine Operations Officers

      7 Rehabilitation Officers (Visual Impairment) 

      6 Music Teachers

      5 Architectural Technicians

      5 Asset Managers

      5 Broadcasting Technical Operators

      5 Early Intervention Practitioners

      5 Unified Communications Troubleshooters

      5 Visual Merchandisers

      4 Aircraft Certifying Technicians      

      4 Padel Coaches

      4 Space Engineering Technicians

      4 Tax Technology Technicians

      3 Building Information Modelling (BIM) Technicians

      3 Culinary Chefs

      3 Fashion & Textiles Technologists

      3 Junior Animators     

      3 Music Recording Technicians

      3 Outdoor Learning Specialist

      3 Payroll Associates

      3 Pensions Administrators

      3 Sports Development Officers   

      3 Utilities Technicians

      3 Visual Effects Artists

      2 Arboriculturists      

      2 Auctioneers

      2 Chaplains

      2 Cricket Coaches

      2 Digital Learning Designers

      2 Energy Specialists     

      2 Trampoline Coaches & Rebound Therapists

      2 Travel Executives

      2 Water Recycling Engineers

      1 Chemical Process Technician

      1 Conveyancing Technician

      1 Cultural Heritage Conservation Technician

      1 Customs & Foreign Exchange Expert

      1 Digital Product Manager

      1 Fitness Club Manager

      1 Fitness Instructor

      1 Governance Officer

      1 Health Informatics Specialist

      1 Horticultural / Landscape Design Practitioner

      1 Hotel Reception Manager

      1 Lighting Designer

      1 Metrology Technician

      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, 10/12/2023