Environmental Practitioner degree apprenticeships 2024 update: who, what and where?

Summary

I published the first edition of this article for Green Careers Week in November 2023 and my analytics tell me it’s made the top 20 in my ‘most popular blogpost’ charts. With more water passing under the bridge since then, this has prompted to factor in the latest data and post a February 2024 update (which has been further updated in March). I’ve changed my featured image too, with November’s sunny Dungeness photo replaced by a wintry scene I captured of the River Wye in Chepstow.

The article provides a summary of who has offered Environmental Practitioner degree apprenticeships in England from 1st January 2020 right up to today. It includes every degree apprenticeship vacancy I’ve recorded during this period, with my main criterion being that each vacancy has to be suitable for an 18/19-year-old Level 3 school or college-leaver to apply for during their final year in full-time education or within a year of leaving. I’ve also been tracking vacancies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland since 1^st June 2022, but so far without spotting any relevant vacancies. Hence the data is confined to England for the time being.

Employers who offer Environmental Practitioner degree apprenticeships consist of:

The Environment Agency
Design and engineering consultancy firms who specialise in large-scale construction and infrastructure projects, including most of the big names in this sector
Local authorities offering degree apprenticeships to train as Environmental Health Officers
Utility companies
Transport and rail infrastructure companies
Building services firms, food companies, a couple of universities and a few other miscellaneous organisations

Total number recorded from 1/1/2020 to 17/3/2024

310, of which 51 were specifically for Environmental Health Officers

Employers offering these apprenticeships

I’ve broken these down into two lists, the first list covering the 255 general Environmental Practitioner vacancies and the second covering the 44 Environmental Health Officer vacancies. Both lists start with the employer offering the highest number and then work downwards:

List 1: Environmental Practitioners (general)

60-70 vacancies:

The Environment Agency

10-20 vacancies:

JBA Consulting
Tetra Tech
Mott MacDonald
Severn Trent Water
Balfour Beatty
Arup
Systra
WSP

5-9 vacancies

Arcadis
Waterman Group
Atkins
Thames Water Utilities

1-4 vacancies:

4-Rail Services
Mace
Skanska
Vinci (Taylor Woodrow and Eurovia)
Buro Happold Consulting Engineers
Wiser Environment
Aecom
Airbus
Capgemini
E.ON
Hydrock Consultants
National Highways
Sir Robert McAlpine
Transport for London
Volker Rail
Bristol City Council
Cranswick Country Foods
Energus / Nuclear Restoration Services
Jacobs
Jeremy Bean Associates
Kellogg Brown & Root
Kier Group
Premier Foods
Ramboll
Ridge & Partners
Savills
Siemens Energy
Troup Bywaters & Anders
University of Birmingham
Veolia
Wates Construction
Wessex Water
Willmott Dixon

List 2: Environmental Health Officers

6-10 vacancies

Sheffield City Council

1-5 vacancies:

London Borough of Brent
London Borough of Haringey
North Devon Council
North Somerset Council
Bath & North East Somerset Council
Bristol City Council
Epsom & Ewell Borough Council
London Borough of Walthamstow
North Lincolnshire Council
South Norfolk District Council
Borough Council of Kings Lynn & West Norfolk
Dorset Council
Eastleigh Borough Council
Gravesham Borough Council
London Borough of Islington
North Tyneside Council
Oxford City Council
Preston City Council
Reading Borough Council
Reigate & Banstead Borough Council
Rossendale Borough Council
Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council
Thurrock Council
University of Bristol
Wyre Council

Number of vacancies broken down by county

61 Greater London

28 Bristol & Gloucestershire

25 West Midlands

22 Yorkshire

18 Kent

12 Greater Manchester

11 Cambridgeshire

10 Somerset

10 Sussex

10 Remote or flexible location

9 Devon

8 Hertfordshire

8 Surrey

7 Berkshire

7 Derbyshire

6 Cheshire

6 Essex

6 Leicestershire

5 Cornwall

5 Hampshire

5 Tyne & Wear

4 Lancashire

4 Lincolnshire

4 Warwickshire

3 Bedfordshire

3 Norfolk

3 Oxfordshire

2 Cumbria

2 Dorset

2 Nottinghamshire

1 Durham

1 Shropshire

1 Staffordshire

1 Suffolk

University partners

Whenever it’s stated I’ve also kept a record of the partner university or college for each apprenticeship vacancy and my latest data is:

83 Coventry University

70 Kingston University

29 University of the West of England

24 Keele University

22 University of Bolton

16 Middlesex University

14 University Centre Weston

10 University of Brighton

8 Leeds Beckett University

5 London South Bank University

2 Anglia Ruskin University

2 University of Central Lancashire

2 University of Wolverhampton

2 Westminster College

1 Burnley College

1 University of Chichester

Starting salaries

When starting salaries have been specified, the general pattern has been as follows (where £20,000+ means anything between (£20,000 and £20,999):

The most frequently quoted starting salaries are £19,000+ and £20,000+
Followed by £17,000+, £18,000+ and £21,000+
Then £16,000+ and £22,000+
Smaller numbers have started on £12,000+, £13,000+ £14,000+, £15,000+, £23,000+, £24,000+ and £25,000+, and one has started on £27,000+
Meanwhile, some employers just say that starting salaries will be pitched somewhere on a scale that starts at £10,000+

Academic entry requirements

The most frequently quoted is undoubtedly 112 UCAS points (e.g. BBC or DMM), followed by 104 points (e.g. BCC), 96 points (e.g. CCC or MMM) and occasionally 120 points (e.g. BBB). It’s rarely any higher than that and sometimes the minimum requirement is lower.

Going forward

From now on my intention is to amend the data in this article whenever new vacancies arise, until such time as another edition might be justified. If and when there are any major developments, I’ll post it through my social media channels.

https://alanbullockcareers.com