Latest reflections on the situation in England

Since the beginning of the 2023/24 academic year I’ve been making a note of all the new vacancies I record that have a start date of September 2024 or thereabouts, as opposed to those with a more immediate or ad hoc start date. Whilst I haven’t got around to calculating the precise ratio between the two, I would estimate that roughly 60% of the DA/HA vacancies I’ve recorded come into the first category.  

This is proving to be quite a useful exercise, not least because it also helps to explain another pattern I’ve noticed, namely that October to early-March tends to be the busiest period which comes to a climax during and either side of National Apprenticeship Week in February. Then from mid-March onwards things start to slow down because by then most of the annual recruiters have launched their programmes, while a few smaller ones will continue popping up throughout the Spring and Summer alongside a modest ongoing supply of ad hoc vacancies.

Week 220 has been a classic example of this, especially for new DAs which totaled just 38 compared with the weekly average of 149. In fact Scotland was almost as busy as England this week, prompting me to update my Scottish data once again (see below). Meanwhile, almost a quarter of new vacancies in England were in Greater London, although elsewhere it was good to see Staffordshire punching above its weight with Stafford, Stone, Newcastle-under-Lyme and Wilnecote all seeing some significant activity during the past ten days. Hence I’ve selected the county as the setting for this week’s featured image, thanks to Ian Procter from Pixabay. I think I’m right in identifying the location as Cannock Chase.  

From an occupational point of view there’s nothing spectacular to report this week, but two more Environmental Health Officers in Barnstaple were added to my data (my recent Environmental Practitioner article has been updated again accordingly) as well as two more Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability Practitioner HAs in Manchester. One more new role was also added to my recently-enhanced Digital Technology DA breakdown, and there was another new entrant to my HA list in the form of a Health Play Specialist in London. In fact the wide range of healthcare roles included in my data continues to be a theme that I personally find intriguing, and further additions this week included a Healthcare Associate Practitioner specialising in Mammography in Harrogate and four more Podiatrists in Hertfordshire, Suffolk and Crewe in Cheshire. As usual any recent school/college-leavers who are keen to apply for these NHS roles would be competing with older more experienced candidates and will normally need to have gained significant insights via a period of employment, volunteering, work placements or some exceptional life experience of their own. Nonetheless, 18/19-year-olds are still eligible to apply and I think the growth in NHS roles has done a lot to enrich my occupational listings.

Apart from that, Sales Executives just keep on delivering the goods and accounted for over 20% of this week’s new HAs. The ability to sell remains a valuable commodity, and perhaps an under-estimated one too.       

Headline data (England)

Since 1^st January 2020 I’ve been continuously tracking new vacancies that would be suitable for Level 3 school/college leavers to apply for during their final year of full-time education or within a year of leaving. During the latest one-week period from 18^th to 24^th March 2024 I recorded:

• 38 new Degree/Professional Apprenticeship vacancies (Levels 6/7) and
• 70 new Higher Apprenticeship vacancies (Levels 4/5)
• giving a total of 108 for the week

In the 220 weeks from 1^st January 2020 to 24^th March 2024 I’ve now recorded:

• 32,736 new Degree/Professional Apprenticeships (Levels 6/7) and
• 25,463 new Higher Apprenticeships (Levels 4/5)
• giving a total of 58,199

The average weekly totals across all 220 weeks have been:

• 149 DAs + 116 HAs = 265 average weekly total

Latest update on Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

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

• Scotland: 1,054 vacancies at SQF Levels 10/11
• Wales: 245 vacancies at Levels 6/7 and 191 at Levels 4/5
• Northern Ireland: 172 vacancies at Levels 6/7 and 26 at Levels 4/5

My most recent quarterly Scotland report was published earlier this month and I’ve updated the data in it again this weekend to include another flurry of activity that’s taken place over the past couple of weeks. The biggest gain has been in Quantity Surveying, while two more council areas have also joined the fray leaving only four out of 32 without a single vacancy during the time I’ve been keeping a record. Here’s all my latest Scotland data for any interested readers:

Analysis of 1,000+ Level 10 Graduate Apprenticeships in Scotland – updated after #ScotAppWeek24

I’ll continue to top up the data in my Scotland reports from time to time and I also hope to publish an annual Wales and Northern Ireland report in June.   

Updated occupational analysis

Every week I update my occupational analysis, breaking the England 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 32,736 new vacancies spread across 112 occupational areas and starting salaries have ranged from £5,590 to £36,822pa, with the average being somewhere in the middle at around £19K to £20K. The occupational breakdown is as follows:

5,499 Accountancy/Tax/Audit Professionals

4,696 Police Constables 

3,287 Digital Technology Solutions: General *see below for details

1,400 Civil Engineers

1,387 Chartered Managers: General Business

1,324 Software Engineers/Developers

1,073 Project Managers: General

1,010 Chartered Quantity Surveyors

   927 Data Scientists/Analysts/Engineers

   801 Nurses (618 Adult, 130 Mental Health, 42 Learning Disability, 11 Child) 

   661 Nuclear Engineers  

   646 Electrical & Electronic Engineers 

   592 Design & Development Engineers

   554 Manufacturing Engineers

   481 Supply Chain Professionals

   443 Banking/Financial Services/Investment Professionals

   435 Chartered Surveyors: Project Management / General Practice

   421 Solicitors

   420 Building Services Design Engineers

   400 Aerospace Engineers

   375 Cyber Security Professionals

   347 Professional Economists

   324 Digital Marketing Professionals

   299 Laboratory Scientists

   299 Sales Professionals

   268 Chartered Managers: Retail Leadership

   255 Environmental Practitioners

   236 Healthcare Science Practitioners (61 Biomedical Sciences, 30 Cardiac Physiology, 24 Nuclear Medicine, 24 Radiation Physics, 19 Respiratory & Sleep Physiology, 17 Clinical/Medical Engineering, 17 Radiation Engineering, 15 Audiology, 13 Neurophysiology, 5 Digital Healthcare Science, 5 Medical Physics, 3 Clinical Informatics, 1 Diagnostic Radiology, 1 Rehabilitation Engineering, 1 Renal Technology) 

   223 Food & Drink Technologists

   207 Electromechanical/Mechatronics Engineers

   203 Chartered Building Surveyors

   194 Railway & Rail Systems Engineers

   184 Construction Managers

   163 Chartered Managers: Food/Drink Manufacturing & Production

   162 Control Technical Support / Control Systems Engineers  

   160 Project Controls Professionals

   142 Operating Department Practitioners (NHS)

   118 Occupational Therapists

   118 Radiographers (62 Diagnostic, 56 Therapeutic)

   102 Materials Science Technologists/Engineers 

   100 Digital User Experience (UX) Designers   

     84 Design & Construction Managers / Architectural Technologists

     83 Podiatrists

     82 Chemical Engineers

     81 Social Workers

     80 Non-Destructive Testing Engineers

     76 Chartered Managers: Hotels & Hospitality

     73 Creative Digital Designers / Graphic Designers

     72 Town Planners

     71 Chartered Managers: Recruitment Professionals

     68 Building Control Surveyors

     58 Packaging Professionals 

     56 Clinical Trials Specialists

     53 Broadcast/Communication/Media Systems Engineers

     52 Chartered Rural Surveyors (Land Agents)

     48 Marine/Submarine Engineers

     46 Environmental Health Officers

     44 Human Resources & People Professionals

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

     40 Transport Planners

     37 Social Researchers

     36 Chartered Geospatial/Land Surveyors

     36 Chartered Managers: Marketing

     35 Weapons Munitions & Explosives Engineers

     34 Chartered Managers: Social Change, Charities & Voluntary Sector 

     33 Physiotherapists

     31 Journalists 

     30 Architectural Assistants     

     30 Public Health Practitioners

     29 Fire Safety Engineers

     25 Aerospace Software Engineers

     21 Insurance Professionals

     18 Speech & Language Therapists

     15 Forestry Professionals

     13 Environmental Engineers

     13 Midwives

     12 Dietitians

     12 Theme Park Engineers

     11 Chartered Managers: Sports Business

       9 Agricultural/Horticultural Advisers

       9 Chartered Surveyors: Land Buyers

       9 Propulsion Engineers

       8 Gas Transmission Engineers

       7 Chartered Managers: Buying & Procurement

       6 Actuarial Professionals     

       6 Chartered Legal Executives   

       6 Sport Development Officers

       5 Chartered Managers: Fitness & Leisure Centres

       5 Operations Analysts

       5 Trading Standards Officers  

       4 Assistant Teachers / Learning Coaches

       4 Chartered Managers: Theme Parks

       3 Assistant Archivists

       3 Digital Transformation Engineers

       3 Education Technology Specialists

       3 Orthotists/Prosthetists

       3 Risk & Safety Management Practitioners       

       3 TV Production Managers

       2 Licensed Conveyancers

       2 Lighting Designers

       2 Pensions Professionals

       2 Sonographers

       2 Youth Workers

       1 Community Centre Manager

       1 Events Manager

       1 Facilities Manager

       1 Games Programmer

       1 Human Performance Engineer 

       1 Resilience & Emergencies Professional

       1 Robotics Engineer

       1 Service Designer       

       1 Space Systems Engineer

*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 117 different job titles, which I’ve subdivided into themed groups to make it digestible:

• Software Engineer, Software Developer, Software Tester
• Data Scientist, Data Analyst, Global Data Analyst, Data Product Specialist, Sales Data Analyst, Data Engineer, Data Architect
• Network Architect, Enterprise Architect, Digital Solutions Architect, Technology Architect
• IT Consultant, Solutions Consultant, Software Consultant, Software Implementation Consultant, Technical Consultant, Technology Consultant, Functional Consultant, Business Consultant, Dynamics Consultant, Security Consultant, Client Consultant, Application Management Consultant, Microsoft Dynamics & Power Applications Consultant, AI Technical Sales Adviser  
• Network Engineer, DevOps Engineer, Solutions Engineer, Digital Solutions Engineer, Digital Engineer, Digital & Technology Engineer, Digital Manufacturing Engineer, Hardware Engineer, Systems Engineer, Business Systems Engineer, Automation Engineer, Controls Engineer, IT Engineer, IT Support Engineer, Technical Support Engineer, Service Desk Engineer, Cloud Engineer, Quality Assurance Engineer, Infrastructure Engineer, Telecommunications Engineer, Sales Engineer, Electronic Systems Design & Development Engineer
• Digital Developer, Application Developer, Business Systems Developer, Business Intelligence (BI) Developer, Automation Developer, Automation Test Developer, Full Stack Developer, Prototype Developer, WordPress Developer
• Innovation Technologist, Legal Technologist, Credit Trading Technologist, People (HR) Solutions Technologist         
• Business Analyst, Business Technology Analyst, Cyber Security Analyst, 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, Network Strategy Analyst, Global Mobility Analyst, Content Analyst, Security Operations Analyst, Process Mining Analyst, SAP Analyst
• Technology Manager, Junior Product Manager, Sales Account Manager, Sales Operations Manager, Platform Manager, Service Manager, Engineering Information Manager, Associate Digital Delivery Manager, Project Manager, Project Co-ordinator, IT Support & Helpdesk Administrator
• Infrastructure Specialist, FinTech Specialist, DevOps/NetOps Specialist, Client Success Specialist, Digital Project Delivery Support Specialist, Information Management & Technology Specialist, Control Systems Specialist, Rail Signal Control Systems Specialist, Amazon Web Services Specialist, Supervisory Control & Data Acquisition Specialist, Fixed Telecoms Specialist, Scientific Computing Specialist, Technology Operations & Service Delivery Specialist, Solution Engineering & Development Specialist, Client Delivery Specialist, Microsoft 365 Product Specialist, IT Governance & Applications Support Specialist, Operations Resilience & Change Specialist, Innovation Foundry Specialist, Continuous Improvement & Automation Specialist
• IT/Computing Technician, Second Line Support Technician
• User Experience Researcher, Content Strategist, Digital Social Media Executive, Public Health Intelligence Officer

Higher Apprenticeships (Levels 4/5):

In total there have been 25,463 new vacancies spread across 154 occupational areas and starting salaries have ranged from £5,002 to £38,469pa. The average is around £17K to £18K, except for Sports Coaches which are usually around £10K or lower. The occupational breakdown is as follows: 

2,086 Sales Executives

1,666 Accounting Technicians

1,606 Data Analysts

1,567 Software Developers 

1,562 Project Management Associates

1,188 Sports Coaches (Children & Young People)   

   896 Nursing Associates

   765 Construction Site Supervisors

   706 Manufacturing Engineering Technicians 

   663 Quantity Surveying Technicians

   602 Business Analysts 

   602 Network Engineers

   598 Taxation Technicians

   491 Cyber Security Technologists

   476 Commercial Procurement & Supply Practitioners

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

   434 Software Testers

   429 Electrical & Electronic Technician Engineers

   421 Civil/Site Engineering Technicians

   420 Public Relations & Communications Assistants

   359 Investment Operations Specialists

   351 Building Services Engineering Technicians

   326 Insurance Practitioners  

   325 Buying & Merchandising Assistants

   311 Junior Management Consultants

   266 Retail Managers  

   265 Technician Scientists

   260 Healthcare Associate Practitioners (150 Reablement, 69 Multidisciplinary, 12 Diagnostic Imaging, 7 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)

   256 DevOps Engineers

   250 Marketing Executives

   239 Construction Design & Build Technicians

   232 Associate Ambulance Practitioners

   211 Early Years Lead Practitioners

   200 Policy Practitioners

   196 Regulatory Compliance Officers

   195 Police Community Support Officers

   170 Mineral Products Technicians 

   167 Healthcare Science Associates/Technicians (61 Audiology & Hearing Aid Dispensers, 42 Medical Engineering, 20 Cardiac & Respiratory Physiology, 15 Genetics Technology, 13 Respiratory & Sleep Physiology, 4 Clinical Chemistry, 4 Tissue Retrieval, 2 Medical Physics, 2 Phlebotomy, 1 Biomedicine, 1 Neurophysiology, 1 Nuclear Medicine, 1 Rehabilitation Engineering)

   159 Railway Engineering Technicians

   154 People Professionals / HR Specialists

   147 Food Production Process Leaders & Technology Technicians

   140 Quality Practitioners/Engineers

   136 Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability Practitioners

   127 Nuclear Technicians

   117 Air Traffic Controllers   

   117 Automotive Engineering/Propulsion Technicians

   116 Hospitality Managers

     93 Internal Audit Practitioners

     91 Actuarial Technicians

     90 Intelligence Analysts

     89 Journalists

     87 Vehicle Damage Assessors

     75 Financial Advisers/Paraplanners   

     75 Recruitment Consultants

     73 Brewers 

     72 Applications Support Leads

     70 Audiovisual Technicians

     67 Automation & Controls Engineering Technicians

     64 Business Operations Managers   

     57 Revenues & Welfare Benefits Officers

     54 Dairy Technologists

     54 Information Managers 

     54 Market Research Executives

     53 Learning & Skills Practitioners/Mentors   

     49 Business Improvement Practitioners

     45 Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS) Engineers

     43 TV/Media Production Co-ordinators 

     41 Ordnance Munitions & Explosives Technicians

     37 Housing/Property/Lettings Managers

     36 Paralegals

     31 Aircraft Engineering Technicians

     31 Engineering Maintenance Technicians

     27 Estate Agency Negotiators

     25 Engineer Surveyors

     23 Countryside Rangers

     22 Land Referencers 

     20 Acoustics Technicians

     19 Digital Accessibility Specialists   

     18 Digital Community Managers

     15 Facilities Managers

     15 Fibre Cable Engineers

     15 Smart Energy Engineers

     12 Broadcast & Media Systems Technicians

     12 Football Coaches

     12 Hygiene Specialists

     11 Data Protection Officers     

     11 Film/TV Post-Production Technical Operators

     11 Gymnastics Coaches

     10 Aviation Operations Managers

     10 Employability Practitioners

     10 Historic Environment Advice / Assistant Archaeologists

       9 Antisocial Behaviour & Community Safety Officers

       9 Counter Fraud Investigators

       9 Marine Engineering Technicians

       9 Railway/Passenger Transport Operations Managers

       9 Rehabilitation Officers (Visual Impairment) 

       9 Town Planning Technicians 

       8 Dental Technicians

       8 School Business Professionals

       7 Asset Managers

       7 Computer Games Developers

       7 Digital Product Managers

       7 Fire Safety Inspectors

       7 Port Marine Operations Officers       

       6 Music Teachers

       5 Architectural Technicians

       5 Broadcasting Technical Operators

       5 Digital Learning Designers

       5 Early Intervention Practitioners

       5 Outdoor Learning Specialists

       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 Culinary Chefs

       3 Fashion & Textiles Technologists

       3 Governance Officers

       3 Junior Animators     

       3 Music Recording Technicians

       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 Lifting Equipment Operations Engineers     

       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 Goalkeeping Coach

       1 Health Informatics Specialist

       1 Health Play Specialist

       1 Horticultural / Landscape Design Practitioner

       1 Hotel Reception Manager

       1 Lighting Designer

       1 Metrology Technician

       1 Proposals Co-ordinator

       1 Small Vessel Chief Engineer

       1 Tennis Coach

       1 Wedding Accessories Designer

       1 Wedding Venue Co-ordinator

       1 Youth Justice Practitioner

Updated analysis by county and region

By county (loosely defined) the 58,199 higher and degree apprenticeships advertised in England since January 2020 have been distributed as follows:

• Greater London (13,066)
• Yorkshire (5,211)
• West Midlands (3,760)
• Greater Manchester (3,236)
• Bristol & Gloucestershire (2,844)
• Hampshire (2,034)
• Berkshire (1,934)
• Hertfordshire (1,328)
• Surrey (1,324)
• Cheshire (1,271)
• Tyne & Wear (1,212)
• Cambridgeshire (1,129)
• Nottinghamshire (1,094)
• Cumbria (1,087)
• Derbyshire (1,086)
• Sussex (1,042)
• Merseyside (993)
• Lancashire (939)
• Essex (917)
• Devon (890)
• Warwickshire (887)
• Suffolk (846)
• Buckinghamshire (808)
• Somerset & South Bristol (763)
• Kent (755)
• Dorset (735)
• Wiltshire (697)
• Leicestershire (694)
• Oxfordshire (684)
• Bedfordshire (654)
• Staffordshire (650)
• County Durham (550)
• Northamptonshire (467)
• Cornwall (418)
• Lincolnshire (418)
• Norfolk (410)
• Shropshire (409)
• Worcestershire (389)
• Northumberland (89)
• Isle of Wight (82)
• Herefordshire (58)
• Rutland (18)
• Remote-working or flexible location (100)
• County not specified (221) 

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 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:

• 13,066   London (1,078,600: 12.11)
•   6,356   South West (645,800: 9.84)
•   6,201   West Midlands (720,900: 8.60)
•   7,526   North West (884,600: 8.51)  
•   8,663   South East (1,040,500: 8.33)
•   5,225   Yorkshire & The Humber (670,800: 7.79)
•   5,282   East of England (685,300: 7.71)
•   3,708   East Midlands (593,700: 6.25)  
•   1,932   North East (313,000: 6.17)
•      100   Remote or flexible
•      140   Region not specified

• 58,199   Total England (6,633,200: 8.77)

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.   

Going forward

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

Footnote: How the data has been collected  

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 very close tabs 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 twelve 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 in my listings 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 wonderful 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 NHS vacancies are 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 or 7, but as ‘Higher’ if it starts at Level 4 with an option to progress to Level 6 as opposed to an expectation.

Although my data is not stored electronically, I do have a written record of all 58,199 vacancies with details of the employer, occupation, location(s), minimum starting salary (if known) and, in the case of DAs, minimum entry grades and degree provider. As a guidance practitioner myself it’s been an incredibly illuminating and informative process, transforming my own perceptions about the labour market.

© Alan Bullock Careers, 24/3/2024