Latest reflections on the situation in England

Week 210 was exceptionally eventful, with lots of activity across most of England and some interesting new developments too. Amongst the most prominent programmes that either launched or came up on my radar for the first time were:

• The Government Social Research Degree Apprenticeship programme with 37 vacancies spread across fifteen different locations from the Tyne to the Solent. It’s the first opportunity of its kind and the degree partner is University of Kent, who also partner the Government Economic Service DA scheme. The minimum entry requirement is a modest 96 UCAS points (CCC or equivalent).
• Jaguar Land Rover with a range of professional Engineering, Digital, Data and Supply Chain opportunities, most of which are located at their sites in Coventry, Birmingham and surrounding areas with an additional presence at Halewood in Merseyside.
• HSBC in Birmingham, Canary Wharf, Leeds, Sheffield and Chester.
• Dyson Institute at their campus in Malmesbury, Wiltshire. They usually recruit around 40 DAs leading to roles in Software, Mechanical, Electrical/Electronic and Electromechanical Engineering.   
• BMW Group with over 40 DA and HA vacancies in a range of Engineering and Business roles at various locations including Farnborough in Hampshire, Oxford, Birmingham, Swindon and their Rolls-Royce plant at Goodwood in West Sussex.
• E.ON Energy with a range of roles based mainly in Nottingham, plus a couple in Coventry.
• AstraZeneca with scientific roles based at Macclesfield in Cheshire.
• Leonardo with Electronic Engineering, Software Engineering and Business Management DAs in Luton.
• Balfour Beatty and Arup with an ongoing range of opportunities relating to construction, environmental and infrastructure projects.
• Meanwhile Marshall Group in Cambridge, Leyland Trucks in Lancashire and Siemens Energy in Lincoln also posted a handful of vacancies each and 45 new Nursing Associate HAs came up at locations in Merseyside, Lancashire and Cumbria, albeit that some of these stretch my criteria to their limit by requiring twelve months’ appropriate experience.
• Just to add to the general intrigue, I added two new Software Developer HAs to my Remote-working category. The employer has a head office in London but only requires staff to meet together once a year with all expenses paid.

With one new Project Management Associate HA also coming up in East Cowes on the Isle of Wight at GKN Aerospace, it was an intriguing week all round and I could have chosen various locations for my featured image. However, the West Midlands was especially resurgent and hence I’ve picked out a photo I took in Coventry a few ago to illustrate this week’s update.  

Latest update on Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

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

• Scotland: 891 vacancies at SQF Levels 10/11
• Wales: 231 vacancies at Levels 6/7 and 173 at Levels 4/5
• Northern Ireland: 161 vacancies at Levels 6/7 and 26 at Levels 4/5

There was some activity in Scotland this week with eight new vacancies, including a couple at Diageo whose product range includes Johnnie Walker whiskies. Three new vacancies were added in Wales too. My latest Scotland report was posted last month and I intend to publish two-year updates for Scotland, Wales and possibly Northern Ireland in June.

Background (for any new readers)  

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 precise 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 significant 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. The prominence of STEM occupations is also very noticeable.

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 social care field and/or those with significant work/voluntary experience or caring responsibilities, who would be capable of making a very competitive application for such roles. Hence, I do include these vacancies if I think a mature 18/19-year-old would be considered, especially within a year of leaving school or college.

Finally, there’s sometimes an element of doubt about whether to include a vacancy under Degree or Higher. My approach to this is to count a vacancy as ‘Degree’ if it starts at Level 4 and moves seamlessly on to Level 6, but as ‘Higher’ if it starts at Level 4 with an option to progress to Level 6 as opposed to an expectation.

Headline data

In England during the latest period from 8^th to 14^th January 2024 I recorded:

• 303 new Degree/Professional Apprenticeship vacancies (Levels 6/7) and
• 137 new Higher Apprenticeship vacancies (Levels 4/5)
• giving a total of 440 for the week

In the 210 weeks from 1^st January 2020 to 14^th January 2024 I’ve now recorded:

• 30,575 new Degree/Professional Apprenticeships (Levels 6/7) and
• 23,794 new Higher Apprenticeships (Levels 4/5)
• giving a total of 54,369

The average weekly totals across all 210 weeks have been:

• 146 DAs + 113 HAs = 259 average weekly total 

Updated analysis by county and region

By county (loosely defined) the 54,369 higher and degree apprenticeships advertised in England since January 2020 have been distributed as follows:

• Greater London (12,446)
• Yorkshire (4,749)
• West Midlands (3,482)
• Greater Manchester (3,080)
• Bristol & Gloucestershire (2,656)
• Hampshire (1,887)
• Berkshire (1,852)
• Hertfordshire (1,281)
• Surrey (1,270)
• Cheshire (1,176)
• Tyne & Wear (1,110)
• Cumbria (1,052)
• Cambridgeshire (1,050)
• Nottinghamshire (1,017)
• Sussex (989)
• Derbyshire (987)
• Merseyside (942)
• Lancashire (910)
• Essex (858)
• Suffolk (816)
• Devon (810)
• Buckinghamshire (750)
• Somerset & South Bristol (722)
• Warwickshire (709)
• Dorset (692)
• Kent (688)
• Leicestershire (660)
• Wiltshire (645)
• Oxfordshire (632)
• Staffordshire (614)
• Bedfordshire (610)
• County Durham (501)
• Northamptonshire (433)
• Norfolk (406)
• Cornwall (401)
• Worcestershire (382)
• Lincolnshire (368)
• Shropshire (321)
• Isle of Wight (74)
• Northumberland (72)
• Herefordshire (57)
• Rutland (15)
• Remote-working with no central base (77)
• 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:

• 12,446   London (1,078,600: 11.54)
•   5,926   South West (645,800: 9.18)
•   7,160   North West (884,600: 8.09)  
•   8,142   South East (1,040,500: 7.83)  
•   5,565   West Midlands (720,900: 7.72)
•   5,021   East of England (685,300: 7.33)
•   4,764   Yorkshire & The Humber (670,800: 7.10)
•   3,384   East Midlands (593,700: 5.70)
•   1,764   North East (313,000: 5.64)
•        77   Remote-working
•      120   Not specified

• 54,369   Total England (6,633,200: 8.20)

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 30,575 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 to £20K. The occupational breakdown is as follows:

5,194 Accountancy/Tax/Audit Professionals

4,496 Police Constables 

3,057 Digital Technology Solutions: General *see below for details

1,338 Chartered Managers: General Business

1,253 Software Engineers/Developers

1,228 Civil Engineers

1,027 Project Managers (integrated)

   914 Chartered Quantity Surveyors

   873 Data Scientists/Analysts/Engineers

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

   635 Nuclear Engineers/Scientists  

   601 Electrical & Electronic Engineers 

   536 Design & Development Engineers

   482 Manufacturing Engineers

   438 Banking/Financial Services/Investment Professionals

   425 Supply Chain Leaders

   383 Solicitors

   381 Aerospace Engineers

   380 Chartered Surveyors: Project Management

   365 Building Services Engineers

   357 Cyber Security Professionals

   341 Professional Economists

   317 Digital Marketing Professionals

   280 Laboratory Scientists

   280 Sales Professionals

   244 Chartered Managers: Retail Leadership

   221 Food & Drink Technologists

   218 Environmental Practitioners

   206 Healthcare Science Practitioners (44 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)   

   189 Electromechanical Engineers

   184 Chartered Building Surveyors 

   177 Construction Managers

   170 Railway & Rail Systems Engineers

   158 Chartered Managers: Food/Drink Manufacturing & Production

   155 Project Controls Professionals

   136 Operating Department Practitioners (NHS)

   118 Radiographers (62 Diagnostic, 56 Therapeutic)

   116 Automation & Control Engineers   

     97 Digital User Experience (UX) Designers   

     97 Occupational Therapists

     95 Materials Science Technologists/Engineers     

     76 Chartered Managers: Hotel & Hospitality Management 

     76 Non-Destructive Testing Engineers

     72 Podiatrists

     71 Chartered Managers: Recruitment Professionals

     69 Creative Digital Designers

     68 Building Control Surveyors

     68 Chemical Engineers

     68 Social Workers

     64 Design & Construction Managers/ Architectural Technologists / BIM Specialists

     64 Town Planners

     58 Packaging Professionals 

     55 Clinical Trials Specialists

     53 Broadcast/Communication/Media Systems Engineers

     49 Chartered Rural Surveyors (Land Agents)

     44 Human Resources & People Professionals  

     42 Chartered Managers: Manufacturing/Production (non-food)

     41 Environmental Health Officers

     39 Transport Planners

     37 Social Researchers     

     35 Weapons Munitions & Explosives Engineers

     34 Chartered Managers: Social Change, Charities & Voluntary Sector 

     33 Chartered Geospatial/Land Surveyors

     31 Journalists   

     31 Marketing & Brand Managers

     30 Public Health Practitioners

     29 Architectural Assistants

     29 Physiotherapists

     24 Aerospace Software Engineers

     24 Fire Safety Engineers

     24 Geotechnical Engineers

     18 Insurance Professionals

     15 Forestry Professionals

     13 Environmental Engineers

     13 Midwives

     13 Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners

     12 Dietitians

     11 Chartered Managers: Sports Business

       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 Chartered Managers: Buying & Procurement

       6 Sport Development Officers

       5 Chartered Managers: Fitness & Leisure Centres

       5 Operations Analysts

       5 Trading Standards Officers  

       4 Assistant Teachers / Learning Coaches

       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 Sonographers

       2 Youth Workers

       1 AI Data Specialist

       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 

*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 109 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, Telecommunications 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 23,794 new vacancies spread across 150 occupational areas and minimum starting salaries have ranged from £5,002 to an unbelievably astronomical £48,369pa. However, the average is around £17K to £18K, except for Sports Coaches which are usually around £10K or lower. The occupational breakdown is as follows: 

1,972 Sales Executives

1,577 Accounting Technicians

1,526 Data Analysts

1,523 Software Developers 

1,449 Project Management Associates

1,136 Sports Coaches (Children & Young People)   

   844 Nursing Associates

   705 Construction Site Supervisors

   686 Manufacturing Engineering Technicians 

   620 Quantity Surveying Technicians  

   582 Network Engineers

   577 Taxation Technicians

   574 Business Analysts  

   460 Cyber Security Technologists

   450 Commercial Procurement & Supply Practitioners

   422 Software Testers

   411 Public Relations & Communications Assistants

   398 Civil/Site Engineering Technicians

   352 Electrical & Electronic Technician Engineers

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

   323 Buying & Merchandising Assistants

   322 Investment Operations Specialists

   317 Building Services Engineering Technicians

   316 Insurance Practitioners  

   269 Junior Management Consultants

   263 Retail Managers  

   262 Technician Scientists

   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)

   243 DevOps Engineers

   236 Marketing Executives

   229 Construction Design & Build Technicians

   200 Policy Practitioners

   195 Police Community Support Officers

   194 Early Years Lead Practitioners

   192 Regulatory Compliance Officers

   183 Associate Ambulance Practitioners

   154 Mineral Products Technicians 

   151 Healthcare Science Associates/Technicians (60 Audiology & Hearing Aid Dispensers, 32 Medical Engineering, 19 Cardiac & Respiratory Physiology, 15 Genetics Technology, 12 Respiratory & Sleep Physiology, 4 Tissue Retrieval, 2 Medical Physics, 2 Phlebotomy, 1 Biochemistry, 1 Biomedicine, 1 Neurophysiology, 1 Nuclear Medicine, 1 Rehabilitation Engineering)

   142 Human Resources Specialists 

   141 Railway Engineering Technicians

   134 Quality Assurance Practitioners

   126 Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability Practitioners

   125 Food Technology/Manufacturing Technicians 

   123 Nuclear Technicians  

   113 Hospitality Managers

   100 Automotive Engineering/Propulsion Technicians

     90 Internal Audit Practitioners

     84 Actuarial Technicians

     83 Journalists   

     80 Intelligence Analysts   

     75 Recruitment Consultants

     72 Brewers 

     72 Vehicle Damage Assessors

     66 Financial Advisers/Paraplanners   

     64 Automation & Controls Engineering Technicians

     60 Applications Support Leads

     59 Business Operations Managers   

     58 Audiovisual Technicians

     57 Revenues & Welfare Benefits Officers    

     53 Learning & Skills Practitioners/Mentors   

     49 Market Research Executives

     47 Business Improvement Practitioners 

     45 Dairy Technologists

     43 Information Managers (infrastructure projects)

     43 TV/Media Production Co-ordinators   

     36 Housing/Property/Lettings Managers

     34 BEMS Controls Engineers (Building Energy Management Systems)

     31 Ordnance Munitions & Explosives Technicians

     30 Air Traffic Controllers   

     30 Engineering Maintenance Technicians

     29 Paralegals

     27 Estate Agency Negotiators

     25 Engineer Surveyors

     23 Countryside Rangers

     21 Land Referencers 

     20 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 Data Protection Officers     

       9 Naval Architects / Marine Engineering Technicians

       9 Railway/Passenger Transport Operations Managers

       8 Antisocial Behaviour & Community Safety Officers

       8 Rehabilitation Officers (Visual Impairment) 

       8 School Business Professionals     

       8 Town Planning Technicians 

       7 Computer Games Developers

       7 Dental Technicians

       7 Digital Product Managers

       7 Fire Safety Inspectors

       7 Historic Environment Advice Assistants

       7 Port Marine Operations Officers

       6 Aeronautical Engineering Technicians

       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 Arboriculturists      

       3 Building Information Modelling (BIM) Technicians

       3 Culinary Chefs

       3 Digital Learning Specialists

       3 Fashion & Textiles Technologists

       3 Junior Animators     

       3 Music Recording Technicians

       3 Outdoor Learning Specialists

       3 Payroll Associates

       3 Pensions Administrators

       3 Sports Development Officers   

       3 Utilities Technicians

       3 Visual Effects Artists

       2 Auctioneers

       2 Chaplains

       2 Cricket Coaches

       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 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’ll continue posting weekly or fortnightly updates, usually on Sunday nights or Monday mornings.   

© Alan Bullock Careers, 14/1/2024