Latest reflections on the situation in England

For any readers who are picking up the threads again after the summer vacation period, here’s a brief summary of what you’ve missed. New vacancies generally came in nothing more than a steady trickle during late-July and August, but they were punctuated by some substantial highlights. If you want to catch up with these, just go back and browse through the opening reflections in my Week 240, 241 and 242 blogposts and you’ll be back on track in no time.

The two highlights that I would especially put in the ‘substantial’ category were the 20 Medical Doctor DAs (MDDAs) with East Suffolk & North Essex NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with Anglia Ruskin University and the 30 Serious & Complex Crime investigator DAs with The National Crime Agency partnering with University of West London. You can find background information on both of these in my Week 242 post.

There’s been another big highlight this week too. In what would otherwise have been an exceptionally quiet week, the Royal Air Force posted 80 HA vacancies for Intelligence Analysts on the government Find an Apprenticeship site, whilst I also spotted that applications are now open for 2025 with Big Four professional services giant EY. Until I get a better sense of overall numbers, I’ve just recorded the EY positions at each location as single rather than multiple vacancies at this stage and I’ll make appropriate upward adjustments in due course.

What this also tells us is that, as early as 1^st September, the 2025 recruitment cycle is already up and running. Potential applicants should therefore start actively looking from now onwards if they want to be on top of the game from the outset.  

My featured image was inspired by the RAF vacancies and is a photo I took at the Bournemouth Airshow.      

Headline data (England)

Since 1^st January 2020 I’ve been continuously tracking new vacancies that would be appropriate 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 period from 26^th August to 1^st September I recorded:

• 39 new Degree/Professional Apprenticeship vacancies (Levels 6/7) and
• 102 new Higher Apprenticeship vacancies (Levels 4/5)
• giving a total of 141 for the week

In the 243 weeks from 1^st January 2020 to 1^st September 2024 I’ve now recorded:

• 33,957 new Degree/Professional Apprenticeships (Levels 6/7) and
• 27,441 new Higher Apprenticeships (Levels 4/5)
• giving a total of 61,398

The average weekly totals across all 243 weeks have been:

• 140 DAs + 113 HAs = 253 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: 1,171 vacancies at SQF Levels 10/11
• Wales: 299 vacancies at Levels 6/7 and 205 at Levels 4/5
• Northern Ireland: 175 vacancies at Levels 6/7 and 41 at Levels 4/5

My latest 27-month Scotland report has been published today and you can find it here:

Analysis of Graduate Apprenticeships in Scotland – September 2024 update

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 33,957 new vacancies spread across 114 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:

5,567 Accountancy/Tax/Audit Professionals

4,696 Police Constables 

3,331 Digital Technology Solutions: General *see below for details

1,485 Civil Engineers

1,432 Chartered Managers: General Business

1,335 Software Engineers/Developers

1,088 Project Managers: General

1,077 Chartered Quantity Surveyors

   946 Data Scientists/Analysts/Engineers

   858 Nurses (637 Adult, 153 Mental Health, 55 Learning Disability, 13 Child)

   665 Electrical & Electronic Engineers 

   665 Nuclear Engineers  

   638 Design & Development Engineers

   583 Manufacturing Engineers

   493 Supply Chain Professionals

   469 Building Services Design Engineers

   454 Chartered Surveyors: Project Management / Real Estate / General Practice

   449 Banking/Financial Services/Investment Professionals   

   434 Solicitors

   404 Cyber Security Professionals

   400 Aerospace Engineers

   356 Digital Marketing Professionals

   347 Professional Economists

   331 Sales Professionals

   330 Laboratory Scientists

   275 Healthcare Science Practitioners (65 Biomedical Sciences, 52 Radiation Physics/Engineering, 33 Cardiac Physiology, 31 Nuclear Medicine, 24 Audiology, 22 Respiratory & Sleep Physiology, 21 Medical Engineering, 17 Neurophysiology, 5 Digital Healthcare Science, 3 Clinical Informatics, 1 Rehabilitation Engineering, 1 Renal Technology) 

   265 Environmental Practitioners

   235 Food Technologists

   221 Chartered Building Surveyors

   218 Electromechanical Engineers

   207 Chartered Managers: Retail Leadership

   198 Railway & Rail Systems Engineers

   190 Chartered Managers: Hospitality (Restaurants/Fast Food)

   186 Construction Site Managers

   167 Food/Drink Manufacturing & Production Managers  

   165 Control Technical Support & Control Systems Engineers

   164 Operating Department Practitioners (NHS)

   162 Project Controls Professionals  

   130 Occupational Therapists

   125 Radiographers (65 Diagnostic, 60 Therapeutic)

   114 Social Workers    

   113 Materials Science Technologists/Engineers 

   104 Digital User Experience (UX) Designers 

     94 Podiatrists

     89 Design & Construction Managers / Architectural Technologists

     84 Creative Digital Designers

     82 Chemical/Process Engineers

     80 Non-Destructive Testing Engineers

     75 Chartered Managers: Recruitment Specialists

     75 Town Planners

     70 Building Control Surveyors

     66 Packaging Technologists 

     64 Environmental Health Officers

     61 Clinical Trials Specialists

     54 Chartered Rural Surveyors (Land Agents)

     53 Broadcast/Communication/Media Systems Engineers

     48 Marine Engineers

     46 Social Researchers

     44 Human Resources & People Professionals

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

     42 Ordnance Munitions & Explosives Engineers

     40 Marketing/Brand Managers

     40 Transport Planners

     39 Geospatial Mapping Specialists / Land Surveyors

     39 Physiotherapists     

     36 Public Health Practitioners

     35 Architectural Assistants 

     35 Chartered Managers: Social Change, Charities & Voluntary Sector 

     33 Chartered Managers: Hotel Management

     33 Fire Safety Engineers    

     31 Journalists

     30 Serious & Complex Crime Investigators 

     25 Aerospace Software Engineers

     25 Chartered Managers: Sports Business & Development

     24 Insurance Professionals

     22 Midwives

     20 Medical Doctors

     20 Speech & Language Therapists

     15 Dietitians

     15 Forestry Professionals

     14 Chartered Surveyors: Land Buyers

     13 Environmental Engineers

     12 Theme Park Engineers

       9 Agricultural/Horticultural Advisers

       9 Propulsion Engineers

       9 Trading Standards Officers  

       9 Youth Workers

       8 Chartered Managers: Buying & Procurement

       8 Gas Transmission Engineers

       6 Actuarial Professionals     

       6 Chartered Legal Executives   

       5 Chartered Managers: Fitness & Leisure Centres

       5 Operations Analysts

       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 Facilities Managers

       2 Licensed Conveyancers

       2 Lighting Designers

       2 Pensions Professionals

       2 Robotics Engineers

       2 Sonographers

       1 Assistant Archaeologist

       1 Community Centre Manager

       1 Events Manager       

       1 Games Programmer

       1 Human Performance Engineer 

       1 Resilience & Emergencies Professional

       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 121 different job titles, which I’ve subdivided into themed groups to make it a bit more 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, Controls Engineer, Control Systems Engineer, Automation 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, Global Equities Technologist, People (HR) Solutions Technologist         
• Business Analyst, Business Technology Analyst, Cyber Security Analyst, Innovation Design Analyst, Agile Analyst, Applications 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
• AI Implementation Specialist, 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
• Digital Development Officer, Public Health Intelligence Officer
• IT/Computing Technician, Second Line Support Technician
• User Experience Researcher, Content Strategist, Digital Social Media Executive

Higher Apprenticeships (Levels 4/5):

In total there have been 27,441 new vacancies spread across 154 occupational areas and starting salaries have ranged from £5,002 to £40,300pa. The average is around £17K to £18K, except for Sports Coaches which are usually between £8 and £13K. The occupational breakdown is as follows:

2,291 Sales Executives

1,820 Accounting Technicians

1,671 Data Analysts

1,669 Software Developers 

1,610 Project Management Associates

1,387 Sports Coaches (Children & Young People)   

1,067 Nursing Associates

   814 Construction Site Supervisors

   766 Manufacturing Engineering Technicians 

   710 Quantity Surveying Technicians

   651 Taxation Technicians

   650 Network Engineers

   628 Business Analysts 

   495 Commercial Procurement & Supply Practitioners

   490 Cyber Security Technologists

   456 Civil/Site Engineering Technicians

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

   447 Software Testers

   443 Public Relations & Communications Assistants

   434 Electrical & Electronic Technician Engineers  

   379 Building Services Engineering Technicians

   365 Investment Operations Specialists

   342 Insurance Practitioners  

   330 Buying & Merchandising Assistants

   312 Junior Management Consultants

   297 DevOps Engineers

   282 Marketing Executives

   280 Retail Managers

   280 Technician Scientists

   268 Construction Design & Build / Architectural Technicians

   268 Healthcare Associate Practitioners (150 Reablement, 69 Multidisciplinary, 15 Diagnostic Radiography, 9 Mammography, 6 Podiatry, 5 Speech Therapy, 3 Continuing Healthcare, 3 Intensive Care, 2 Dietetic Speech & Language, 2 Rehabilitation, 1 Critical Care, 1 Maternity, 1 Occupational Therapy, 1 Pre-Treatment Radiotherapy)

   240 Associate Ambulance Practitioners

   221 Early Years Lead Practitioners

   210 Regulatory Compliance Officers

   203 Policy Practitioners

   195 Police Community Support Officers

   191 Intelligence Analysts

   189 Healthcare Science Associates/Technicians (64 Audiology & Hearing Aid Dispensing, 45 Medical Engineering, 39 Respiratory Physiology, 23 Genetics Technology, 4 Clinical Chemistry, 4 Tissue Retrieval, 2 Medical Physics, 2 Phlebotomy, 2 Rehabilitation Engineering, 1 Biomedicine, 1 Neurophysiology, 1 Nuclear Medicine, 1 Orthoptics)

   176 Mineral Products Technicians 

   162 People Professionals / HR Specialists

   160 Railway Engineering Technicians

   153 Quality Assurance Practitioners/Engineers   

   148 Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability Practitioners

   147 Food Production Technicians & Process Leaders

   130 Air Traffic Controllers  

   129 Nuclear Technicians

   128 Propulsion Technicians (Automotive/Aerospace)

   123 Hospitality Managers

   102 Vehicle Damage Assessors

   101 Internal Audit Practitioners

     94 Audiovisual Technicians

     92 Actuarial Technicians    

     91 Journalists    

     83 Applications Support Leads

     82 Financial Advisers/Paraplanners

     78 Automation & Controls Engineering Technicians

     77 Recruitment Consultants

     76 Brewers      

     66 Business Operations Managers 

     60 Market Research Executives

     60 Revenues & Welfare Benefits Officers

     57 Learning & Skills Mentors/Coaches   

     55 Information Managers 

     54 Business Improvement Practitioners

     54 Dairy Technologists

     53 TV/Media Production Co-ordinators

     48 Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS) Engineers

     47 Engineering Maintenance Technicians

     41 Housing/Property/Lettings Managers

     41 Ordnance Munitions & Explosives Technicians

     36 Paralegals

     35 Countryside Rangers

     33 Aircraft Engineering Technicians    

     29 Estate Agency Sales Negotiators

     25 Engineer Surveyors

     22 Land Referencers 

     20 Acoustics Technicians

     20 Data Protection Officers

     20 Digital Accessibility Specialists   

     20 Gymnastics/Trampoline Coaches

     18 Digital Community Managers    

     15 Facilities Managers

     15 Fibre Cable Engineers

     15 Football Coaches

     15 Smart Energy Engineers

     14 Historic Environment Advice Assistants

     12 Broadcast & Media Systems Technicians

     12 Governance Officers

     12 Hygiene Specialists

     12 Passenger Transport Operations Managers

     11 Film/TV Post-Production Technical Operators

     10 Aviation Operations Managers

     10 Counter Fraud Investigators

     10 Employability Practitioners

     10 Town Planning Technicians 

       9 Antisocial Behaviour & Community Safety Officers

       9 Early Intervention Practitioners

       9 Marine Engineering Technicians

       9 Port Marine Operations Officers       

       9 Rehabilitation Officers (Visual Impairment) 

       8 Dental Technicians

       8 School Business Professionals

       7 Asset Managers

       7 Computer Games Developers

       7 Digital Product Managers

       7 Fire Safety Inspectors

       6 Digital Learning Designers

       6 Music Teachers

       6 Outdoor Learning Specialists

       5 Broadcasting Technical Operators

       5 Data Engineers

       5 Unified Communications Troubleshooters

       5 Visual Merchandisers

       4 Aircraft Certifying Technicians

       4 Arboriculturists / Tree Officers

       4 Culinary Chefs

       4 Music Recording Technicians

       4 Padel Coaches

       4 Space Engineering Technicians

       4 Tax Technology Technicians

       3 Fashion & Textiles Technologists

       3 Junior Animators     

       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 Health Play Specialist      

       2 Horticultural/Landscaping Technicians

       2 Lifting Equipment Operations Engineers  

       2 Marine Pilots

       2 Publishing Professionals

       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 Hotel Reception Manager

       1 Lighting Designer

       1 Metrology Technician

       1 Proposals Co-ordinator      

       1 Scientific Instrument Maker

       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 61,398 higher and degree apprenticeships advertised in England since January 2020 have been distributed as follows:

• Greater London (13,538)
• Yorkshire (5,478)
• West Midlands (3,916)
• Greater Manchester (3,405)
• Bristol & Gloucestershire (2,998)
• Hampshire (2,212)
• Berkshire (2,004)
• Hertfordshire (1,407)
• Surrey (1,407)
• Cheshire (1,307)
• Tyne & Wear (1,304)
• Cambridgeshire (1,216)
• Nottinghamshire (1,158)
• Derbyshire (1,132)
• Cumbria (1,124)
• Sussex (1,115)
• Merseyside (1,042)
• Essex (1,012)
• Lancashire (1,004)
• Devon (952)
• Warwickshire (925)
• Buckinghamshire (895)
• Suffolk (892)
• Somerset & South Bristol (827)
• Kent (824)
• Oxfordshire (769)
• Dorset (769)
• Leicestershire (744)
• Wiltshire (739)
• Bedfordshire (720)
• Staffordshire (694)
• County Durham (588)
• Northamptonshire (496)
• Lincolnshire (495)
• Norfolk (440)
• Cornwall (438)
• Worcestershire (430)
• Shropshire (389)
• Northumberland (97)
• Isle of Wight (97)
• Herefordshire (66)
• Rutland (19)
• Remote-working or flexible location (112)
• Region specified but not county (87)
• Unspecified region (115)

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:

• 13,538   London (1,078,600: 12.55)
•   6,732   South West (645,800: 10.42)
•   6,468   West Midlands (720,900: 8.97)
•   9,323   South East (1,040,500: 8.96)
•   7,882   North West (884,600: 8.91) 
•   5,687   East of England (685,300: 8.30)
•   5,503   Yorkshire & The Humber (670,800: 8.20)
•   2,085   North East (313,000: 6.66)
•   3,953   East Midlands (593,700: 6.66)  
•      112   Remote or flexible
•      115   Unspecified region

• 61,398   Total England (6,633,200: 9.26)

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.

• NB The Teesside area of North Yorkshire is in the North East region (not Yorkshire & The Humber) and North East Lincolnshire is in the Yorkshire & The Humber region (not East Midlands).
• The 87 vacancies for which the region was specified but not the county were in West Midlands (48), East Midlands (24), South West (9) and Yorkshire & The Humber (6).  

Going forward

Although the project can’t go on for ever, I hope to continue posting regular updates in the 2024/25 academic year.     

Footnote: How the data has been collected plus some general observations   

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. I only record vacancies that are posted by or on behalf of specific named employers.

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, and where you live is a factor as well. To a certain extent there’s probably a mismatch between students’ aspirations and the actual occupations available too, 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 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 not stored electronically, I do have a written record of all 61,398 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, 1/9/2024

https://alanbullockcareers.com