Latest reflections on the situation in England

As expected the two four-day weeks either side of Easter were steady and unspectacular, but there were a couple of interesting highlights.

Civil Engineering was the big winner with 37 new DAs spread across the two weeks, almost half of which were posted by the housebuilder Bellway Homes at locations ranging from Houghton-le-Spring in County Durham to Ringwood in Hampshire and West Malling in Kent. As any regular readers will have noticed, West Malling (pronounced Mawling) has been a surprising hot-spot so far in 2024 and certainly punches above its weight for a market town with a population of barely 2,500 souls. The Bellway vacancies extended into Scotland too, with a couple more also added to my Scottish Graduate Apprenticeship numbers given below.

The other main highlight was quite unusual and quirky. A firm that supplies fuel cards, particularly to businesses who have their own vehicle fleets, posted a batch of Sales Executive HAs spread across four randomly-distributed locations, namely Burnley, Ipswich, Pean Hill in Kent and Berwick-upon-Tweed in Northumberland. By coincidence I’ve driven past West Malling, Pean Hill and Ipswich fairly recently and I also used to visit Burnley on business during my marketing career many moons ago. But I stopped in Berwick a few years ago too and I’ve picked out a photo I took there as my featured image because it’s the most northerly town in England in which I’ve ever recorded a vacancy. In fact, in terms of latitude, Berwick is pretty much in line with Hamilton which is one of the locations of Bellway’s Scottish vacancies …. this week’s bizarre fact! The train in the photo was crossing the Royal Border Bridge on its way from Edinburgh to King’s Cross.      

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 two-week period from 25^th March to 7^th April 2024 I recorded:

• 140 new Degree/Professional Apprenticeship vacancies (Levels 6/7) and
• 145 new Higher Apprenticeship vacancies (Levels 4/5)
• giving a total of 285 for the week

In the 222 weeks from 1^st January 2020 to 7^th April 2024 I’ve now recorded:

• 32,876 new Degree/Professional Apprenticeships (Levels 6/7) and
• 25,608 new Higher Apprenticeships (Levels 4/5)
• giving a total of 58,484

The average weekly totals across all 222 weeks have been:

• 148 DAs + 115 HAs = 263 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: 1,062 vacancies at SQF Levels 10/11
• Wales: 249 vacancies at Levels 6/7 and 193 at Levels 4/5
• Northern Ireland: 172 vacancies at Levels 6/7 and 31 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 after a few more vacancies were recorded either side of Easter. I’ll continue to do this from time to time and the latest version is here:

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

I also hope to publish an annual Wales report in June and something on Northern Ireland too.   

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 32,876 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:

5,500 Accountancy/Tax/Audit Professionals

4,696 Police Constables 

3,291 Digital Technology Solutions: General *see below for details

1,437 Civil Engineers

1,393 Chartered Managers: General Business

1,325 Software Engineers/Developers

1,077 Project Managers: General

1,015 Chartered Quantity Surveyors

   935 Data Scientists/Analysts/Engineers

   809 Nurses (620 Adult, 133 Mental Health, 45 Learning Disability, 11 Child) 

   665 Nuclear Engineers  

   650 Electrical & Electronic Engineers 

   596 Design & Development Engineers

   561 Manufacturing Engineers

   481 Supply Chain Professionals

   443 Banking/Financial Services/Investment Professionals

   435 Chartered Surveyors: Project Management / General Practice

   433 Building Services Design Engineers

   422 Solicitors  

   400 Aerospace Engineers

   376 Cyber Security Professionals

   347 Professional Economists

   329 Digital Marketing Professionals

   304 Laboratory Scientists

   301 Sales Professionals

   268 Chartered Managers: Retail Leadership

   256 Environmental Practitioners

   239 Healthcare Science Practitioners (61 Biomedical Sciences, 30 Cardiac Physiology, 25 Nuclear Medicine, 25 Radiation Physics, 19 Respiratory & Sleep Physiology, 17 Clinical/Medical Engineering, 17 Radiation Engineering, 15 Audiology, 14 Neurophysiology, 5 Digital Healthcare Science, 5 Medical Physics, 3 Clinical Informatics, 1 Diagnostic Radiology, 1 Rehabilitation Engineering, 1 Renal Technology) 

   223 Food & Drink Technologists

   208 Electromechanical/Mechatronics Engineers

   206 Chartered Building Surveyors

   194 Railway & Rail Systems Engineers

   184 Construction Managers

   163 Chartered Managers: Food/Drink Manufacturing & Production

   163 Control Technical Support & Control Systems Engineers  

   162 Project Controls Professionals

   143 Operating Department Practitioners (NHS)

   120 Occupational Therapists

   118 Radiographers (62 Diagnostic, 56 Therapeutic)

   102 Materials Science Technologists/Engineers 

   100 Digital User Experience (UX) Designers   

     86 Podiatrists

     84 Design & Construction Managers / Architectural Technologists

     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

     38 Social Researchers

     36 Chartered Geospatial/Land Surveyors

     36 Chartered Managers: Marketing

     35 Physiotherapists

     35 Weapons Munitions & Explosives Engineers

     34 Chartered Managers: Social Change, Charities & Voluntary Sector 

     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 25,608 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: 

2,106 Sales Executives

1,673 Accounting Technicians

1,614 Data Analysts

1,570 Project Management Associates

1,569 Software Developers 

1,197 Sports Coaches (Children & Young People)   

   909 Nursing Associates

   770 Construction Site Supervisors

   707 Manufacturing Engineering Technicians 

   670 Quantity Surveying Technicians

   610 Network Engineers

   605 Business Analysts 

   598 Taxation Technicians

   492 Cyber Security Technologists

   479 Commercial Procurement & Supply Practitioners

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

   434 Software Testers

   429 Electrical & Electronic Technician Engineers

   425 Civil/Site Engineering Technicians

   420 Public Relations & Communications Assistants

   360 Investment Operations Specialists

   354 Building Services Engineering Technicians

   326 Insurance Practitioners  

   325 Buying & Merchandising Assistants

   311 Junior Management Consultants

   269 Retail Managers  

   265 Technician Scientists

   260 DevOps Engineers

   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)

   252 Marketing Executives

   239 Construction Design & Build Technicians

   232 Associate Ambulance Practitioners

   212 Early Years Lead Practitioners

   200 Policy Practitioners

   198 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

   155 People Professionals / HR Specialists

   147 Food Production Technicians & Process Leaders

   140 Quality Practitioners/Engineers

   137 Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability Practitioners

   127 Nuclear Technicians

   121 Automotive Engineering/Propulsion Technicians

   117 Air Traffic Controllers   

   117 Hospitality Managers

     93 Internal Audit Practitioners

     91 Actuarial Technicians

     90 Intelligence Analysts

     89 Journalists

     88 Vehicle Damage Assessors

     75 Financial Advisers/Paraplanners   

     75 Recruitment Consultants

     74 Audiovisual Technicians

     74 Brewers 

     72 Applications Support Leads

     69 Automation & Controls Engineering Technicians

     64 Business Operations Managers 

     57 Market Research Executives

     57 Revenues & Welfare Benefits Officers

     54 Dairy Technologists

     54 Information Managers 

     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

     38 Housing/Property/Lettings Managers

     37 Engineering Maintenance Technicians

     36 Paralegals

     31 Aircraft Engineering Technicians

     27 Estate Agency Negotiators

     25 Engineer Surveyors

     23 Countryside Rangers

     22 Land Referencers 

     20 Acoustics Technicians

     20 Digital Accessibility Specialists   

     18 Digital Community Managers

     15 Facilities Managers

     15 Fibre Cable Engineers

     15 Smart Energy Engineers

     12 Broadcast & Media Systems Technicians

     12 Data Protection & Information Governance Officers     

     12 Football Coaches

     12 Hygiene Specialists

     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 58,484 higher and degree apprenticeships advertised in England since January 2020 have been distributed as follows:

• Greater London (13,113)
• Yorkshire (5,246)
• West Midlands (3,767)
• Greater Manchester (3,244)
• Bristol & Gloucestershire (2,856)
• Hampshire (2,043)
• Berkshire (1,937)
• Hertfordshire (1,339)
• Surrey (1,335)
• Cheshire (1,274)
• Tyne & Wear (1,220)
• Cambridgeshire (1,138)
• Nottinghamshire (1,100)
• Cumbria (1,090)
• Derbyshire (1,087)
• Sussex (1,047)
• Merseyside (995)
• Lancashire (944)
• Essex (928)
• Devon (900)
• Warwickshire (890)
• Suffolk (850)
• Buckinghamshire (811)
• Somerset & South Bristol (774)
• Kent (760)
• Dorset (740)
• Leicestershire (700)
• Wiltshire (700)
• Oxfordshire (689)
• Bedfordshire (665)
• Staffordshire (653)
• County Durham (553)
• Northamptonshire (467)
• Cornwall (418)
• Lincolnshire (422)
• Norfolk (417)
• Shropshire (409)
• Worcestershire (390)
• Northumberland (91)
• Isle of Wight (82)
• Herefordshire (58)
• Rutland (18)
• Remote-working or flexible location (103)
• 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:

• 13,113   London (1,078,600: 12.16)
•   6,397   South West (645,800: 9.91)
•   6,215   West Midlands (720,900: 8.62)
•   7,547   North West (884,600: 8.53)  
•   8,704   South East (1,040,500: 8.37)
•   5,259   Yorkshire & The Humber (670,800: 7.84)
•   5,335   East of England (685,300: 7.78)
•   3,724   East Midlands (593,700: 6.27)  
•   1,947   North East (313,000: 6.22)
•      103   Remote or flexible
•      140   Region not specified

• 58,484   Total England (6,633,200: 8.82)

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 58,484 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, 7/4/2024