Latest reflections on the situation in England
Whilst this week was less spectacular than the week before, there was still plenty of intriguing activity stretching from North Shields on Tyneside to the village of Scorrier near Redruth in Cornwall. There were some other unusual hotspots too, with Basildon in Essex and Stone in Staffordshire being two of the busiest places in England. Lincoln was also quite prominent, while six new vacancies popped up in the unlikely rural settings of Salwick in Lancashire and the riverside village of Twyning in North Gloucestershire. For the second successive week there was a Remote-working HA vacancy too, this time a DevOps Engineer.
Meanwhile Leonardo was one of the most prominent employers again, while Capgemini posted September 2024 Digital Technology DA vacancies in Manchester, Birmingham, London and Woking to add to those they’d already advertised at their site in Worthing. The degree provider for all of the Capgemini apprenticeships is Sheffield Hallam, who are without a doubt the most prolific DA provider in England judging from my data records.
Remarkably, this week also saw five new Town Planning DA vacancies, as well as four Dairy Technologist HAs in Shropshire and Worcestershire. Engineering DAs were plentiful, especially Electrical & Electronic and Civil, while more Nursing Associate HAs were also posted in Cambridge and North Leicestershire alongside a crop of Ambulance Associate Practitioner HAs in the South Central region, albeit that the latter in particular tend to stretch my criteria for inclusion to the limit.
As for this week’s featured image, you will have to trust the honesty of my claim that the photo is one I took by the River Avon near Twyning in 2015. It really is the honest truth.
Latest update on Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
Having also tracked vacancies in the three other devolved nations since 1st June 2022, my latest running totals are as follows:
- Scotland: 906 vacancies at SQF Levels 10/11
- Wales: 232 vacancies at Levels 6/7 and 179 at Levels 4/5
- Northern Ireland: 161 vacancies at Levels 6/7 and 26 at Levels 4/5
There was more activity in both Scotland and Wales this week. The new Welsh vacancies were in Cardiff, Rhyl and Prestatyn, while things in Scotland continued to tick along nicely. 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 (only updated occasionally)
Since 1st 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 15th to 21st January 2024 I recorded:
- 185 new Degree/Professional Apprenticeship vacancies (Levels 6/7) and
- 105 new Higher Apprenticeship vacancies (Levels 4/5)
- giving a total of 290 for the week
In the 211 weeks from 1st January 2020 to 21st January 2024 I’ve now recorded:
- 30,760 new Degree/Professional Apprenticeships (Levels 6/7) and
- 23,899 new Higher Apprenticeships (Levels 4/5)
- giving a total of 54,659
The average weekly totals across all 211 weeks have been:
- 146 DAs + 113 HAs = 259 average weekly total
Updated analysis by county and region
By county (loosely defined) the 54,659 higher and degree apprenticeships advertised in England since January 2020 have been distributed as follows:
- Greater London (12,488)
- Yorkshire (4,753)
- West Midlands (3,516)
- Greater Manchester (3,108)
- Bristol & Gloucestershire (2,667)
- Hampshire (1,903)
- Berkshire (1,861)
- Surrey (1,290)
- Hertfordshire (1,281)
- Cheshire (1,183)
- Tyne & Wear (1,118)
- Cambridgeshire (1,055)
- Cumbria (1,053)
- Nottinghamshire (1,018)
- Sussex (993)
- Derbyshire (987)
- Merseyside (944)
- Lancashire (915)
- Essex (872)
- Suffolk (821)
- Devon (812)
- Buckinghamshire (752)
- Somerset & South Bristol (726)
- Warwickshire (721)
- Dorset (692)
- Kent (689)
- Leicestershire (668)
- Wiltshire (647)
- Oxfordshire (643)
- Staffordshire (624)
- Bedfordshire (611)
- County Durham (502)
- Northamptonshire (434)
- Norfolk (407)
- Cornwall (407)
- Worcestershire (383)
- Lincolnshire (374)
- Shropshire (325)
- Isle of Wight (74)
- Northumberland (72)
- Herefordshire (57)
- Rutland (15)
- Remote-working with no central base (78)
- 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:
- 12,488 London (1,078,600: 11.58)
- 5,951 South West (645,800: 9.21)
- 7,203 North West (884,600: 8.14)
- 8,205 South East (1,040,500: 7.89)
- 5,626 West Midlands (720,900: 7.80)
- 5,047 East of England (685,300: 7.36)
- 4,768 Yorkshire & The Humber (670,800: 7.11)
- 3,400 East Midlands (593,700: 5.73)
- 1,773 North East (313,000: 5.66)
- 78 Remote-working
- 120 Not specified
- 54,659 Total England (6,633,200: 8.24)
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 30,760 new vacancies spread across 113 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
3,138 Digital Technology Solutions: General *see below for details
1,338 Chartered Managers: General Business
1,264 Software Engineers/Developers
1,247 Civil Engineers
1,032 Project Managers (integrated)
917 Chartered Quantity Surveyors
874 Data Scientists/Analysts/Engineers
762 Nurses (593 Adult, 124 Mental Health, 37 Learning Disability, 8 Child)
641 Nuclear Engineers
620 Electrical & Electronic Engineers
542 Design & Development Engineers
485 Manufacturing Engineers
438 Banking/Financial Services/Investment Professionals
425 Supply Chain Leaders
383 Chartered Surveyors: Project Management
383 Solicitors
381 Aerospace Engineers
365 Building Services Engineers
359 Cyber Security Professionals
341 Professional Economists
318 Digital Marketing Professionals
284 Laboratory Scientists
284 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)
190 Electromechanical Engineers
184 Chartered Building Surveyors
177 Construction Managers
172 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
98 Occupational Therapists
97 Digital User Experience (UX) Designers
95 Materials Science Technologists/Engineers
76 Chartered Managers: Hotels & Hospitality
76 Non-Destructive Testing Engineers
72 Podiatrists
71 Chartered Managers: Recruitment Professionals
71 Chemical Engineers
71 Creative Digital Designers
69 Town Planners
68 Building Control Surveyors
68 Social Workers
64 Design & Construction Managers/ Architectural Technologists / BIM Specialists
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
40 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 Control & Technical Support Engineers
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 23,899 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:
1,977 Sales Executives
1,586 Accounting Technicians
1,536 Data Analysts
1,531 Software Developers
1,452 Project Management Associates
1,144 Sports Coaches (Children & Young People)
854 Nursing Associates
707 Construction Site Supervisors
689 Manufacturing Engineering Technicians
620 Quantity Surveying Technicians
583 Network Engineers
579 Taxation Technicians
575 Business Analysts
462 Cyber Security Technologists
452 Commercial Procurement & Supply Practitioners
423 Software Testers
413 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
323 Investment Operations Specialists
317 Building Services Engineering Technicians
316 Insurance Practitioners
269 Junior Management Consultants
264 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)
246 DevOps Engineers
236 Marketing Executives
229 Construction Design & Build Technicians
200 Policy Practitioners
196 Associate Ambulance Practitioners
195 Police Community Support Officers
194 Early Years Lead Practitioners
192 Regulatory Compliance Officers
154 Mineral Products Technicians
152 Healthcare Science Associates/Technicians (60 Audiology & Hearing Aid Dispensers, 32 Medical Engineering, 20 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
128 Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability Practitioners
125 Food Technology/Manufacturing Technicians
123 Nuclear Technicians
113 Hospitality Managers
100 Automotive Engineering/Propulsion Technicians
90 Internal Audit Practitioners
88 Actuarial Technicians
83 Journalists
80 Intelligence Analysts
75 Recruitment Consultants
72 Brewers
72 Vehicle Damage Assessors
68 Financial Advisers/Paraplanners
64 Automation & Controls Engineering Technicians
61 Applications Support Leads
61 Audiovisual Technicians
59 Business Operations Managers
57 Revenues & Welfare Benefits Officers
53 Learning & Skills Practitioners/Mentors
50 Market Research Executives
49 Dairy Technologists
47 Business Improvement Practitioners
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, 21/1/2024
Alan Bullock Careers 