Latest reflections on the situation in England

In terms of new vacancies Week 250 was steady rather than prolific, but it did see some significant new entrants to my evolving 2025 list, namely:

• HSBC with 35 Banking & Financial Services DAs in Birmingham, Leeds, London and Manchester
• Unilever with a range of DAs and HAs involved in the development, manufacture or distribution of iconic brands like Marmite, Ben & Jerry’s, Cornetto, Bovril, Domestos, Lynx, Persil and Dove in London, Kingston, Colworth (Bedfordshire) and Port Sunlight (Merseyside)
• Siemens with an initial trickle of vacancies in Chippenham, plus one in Croydon
• Morgan Sindall Construction with Quantity Surveying and Site Supervisor HAs in Cambridge, Chelmsford, Ipswich and Norwich
• Westcotts with a batch of Accounting Technician HAs in Devon and Somerset
• Whitecode Consulting with a Building Services Design Engineering DA opportunity in Northfleet, Kent
• TLT with a small batch of Solicitor DAs in London, Bristol, Birmingham and Manchester, and
• Balfour Beatty with a further 50 DA and HA vacancies in a wide range of locations, some of the most prominent being Ringmer, Derby, Canary Wharf, Bridgwater, Middlesbrough and Newcastle

In addition I picked up a selection of HAs offered by the British Army, along with some Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) HAs in Surrey, West Sussex and Brighton & Hove. Other snippets also included the first Basketball Coach HA I’ve ever seen, based in Ealing.

My choice of featured image this week was prompted by the Balfour Beatty vacancies in Middlesbrough and it’s the second time I’ve dipped into some photos I took of the Tees Transporter Bridge, one of my favourite structures, on my way back from a conference in Durham several years ago.

Employers already accepting applications for September 2025

The following employers have opened their application windows for degree, professional or higher apprenticeship positions commencing in (or around) September 2025.

I can’t guarantee that it’s a fully inclusive list, but it does include everything I’ve picked up on my radar so far. At the same time, I don’t include employers who at this stage only want prospective applicants to register their interest. Meanwhile, some will have had early closing dates, which can be as early as September or October 2024 and hence some specific vacancies have closed already. In contrast, others will stay open for a few weeks or months and it’s also worth noting that some vacancies will close when enough applications have been received.

Once employers have closed for applications, I will still keep them on the list because my objective is to create an overview of who all the annual recruiters are, broken down broadly by occupational area. One further point to mention is that some of the listed employers may only have one vacancy in one location while others may have multiple vacancies in multiple locations.

Here’s the updated list as it currently stands:

• Accountancy, Tax & Professional Services: BDO, Beazley, Cooper Parry, Crowe, Deloitte, EY, Forvis Mazars, Hazlewoods, Mercer & Hole, MBDA, MHA, Moore Kingston Smith, PwC, RSM, RPG, Saffery, Unilever, Westcotts, Zenopa
• Actuarial Technician: WTW
• Air Traffic Control: RAF
• Banking, Investment & Financial Services: AJ Bell, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JP Morgan
• Business Management (general): Deloitte, MBDA, Morrisons, Unilever, Zenopa
• Chemical Engineering: Unilever
• Civil Engineering: Balfour Beatty, Mott MacDonald
• Compliance & Risk: Deloitte
• Construction & Building Services: AWE, Balfour Beatty, Mace, Morgan Sindall, Mott MacDonald, Whitecode Consulting
• Consulting: EY, PwC, RSM
• Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability: Balfour Beatty
• Data Science & Analytics: Balfour Beatty, Unilever, WTW
• Digital & Technology: Airbus, Army, Beazley, Compliance 365, Cranswick, EY, FSP, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, MBDA, Mercedes-AMG, MI5 & MI6, Siemens, Unilever, WTW
• Engineering (Aero/Auto/Elec/Electromech/Manuf/Mech): Airbus, AWE, GE Aerospace, MBDA, Mercedes-AMG
• Environmental Practitioner: Balfour Beatty, Mace, Mott MacDonald
• Facilities, Fire, Health & Safety: Airbus, AWE, Balfour Beatty
• Food Production Management: Morrisons
• Food Technology: Unilever
• Forestry: Savills
• HR: Balfour Beatty
• Insurance: Beazley, WTW
• Intelligence Analyst: Army, RAF, Royal Navy
• Laboratory Science: AWE, Unilever
• Law (Solicitor/Paralegal): Ashurst, Bristows, Burges Salmon, Cripps, Deloitte, DWF Law, Forsters, Linklaters, Michelmores, Mishcon de Reya, RPC, TLT, Travers Smith, Trowers & Hamlins, Weightmans, Weil, White & Case
• Logistics & Supply Chain: Coca Cola, GE Aerospace, Morrisons
• Marketing: Unilever
• Mineral Products Technician: Hanson, Heidelberg
• Medical Doctor: ESNEFT
• Nuclear Engineering: AWE
• OME: Army
• Project Management & Control: Airbus, AWE, Balfour Beatty, Mace, Unilever
• Quality Practitioner: AWE, Balfour Beatty, Mace
• Quantity Surveying: Balfour Beatty, Hanson, Morgan Sindall, Mott MacDonald
• Packaging: Unilever
• Rail & Rail Systems Engineering: Mott MacDonald, Siemens
• Rural Surveying: FGP
• Sales: Coca Cola, Unilever
• Surveying (General Practice): Balfour Beatty, Mace, Mott MacDonald, Savills
• Town Planning: Savills
• Transport Operations (Air): Army
• UX Design: AJ Bell

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 14^th to 20^th October I recorded:

• 108 new Degree/Professional Apprenticeship vacancies (Levels 6/7) and
• 133 new Higher Apprenticeship vacancies (Levels 4/5)
• giving a total of 241 for the week

In the 250 weeks from 1^st January 2020 to 20^th October 2024 I’ve now recorded:

• 35,318 new Degree/Professional Apprenticeships (Levels 6/7) and
• 28,226 new Higher Apprenticeships (Levels 4/5)
• giving a total of 63,544

The average weekly totals across all 250 weeks have been:

• 141 DAs + 113 HAs = 254 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: 1,208 vacancies at SQF Levels 10/11
• Wales: 327 vacancies at Levels 6/7 and 207 at Levels 4/5
• Northern Ireland: 178 vacancies at Levels 6/7 and 44 at Levels 4/5

There was a fascinating new GA in Scotland this week, specialising in Social Media Marketing for a company that runs yoga courses at a lodge in Tanzania. Meanwhile, my latest Scotland report was posted last month and I hope to publish more reports covering all three nations in due course.

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/professional and higher apprenticeships.

Degree/Professional Apprenticeships (Levels 6/7):

In total there have been 35,318 new vacancies spread across 117 occupational areas and starting salaries have ranged from £5,590 to £38,269pa, with the average being somewhere in the middle at around £19K to £20K. The occupational breakdown is as follows:

• *Digital & Technology Solutions has its own detailed supplementary breakdown at the foot of the list.

5,679 Accountancy/Tax/Audit Professionals

5,081 Police Constables 

3,364 *Digital & Technology Solutions: General 

1,505 Civil Engineers

1,438 Chartered Managers: General Business

1,353 Software Engineers/Developers

1,114 Chartered Quantity Surveyors

1,092 Project Managers: General

   950 Data Scientists/Analysts/Engineers

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

   680 Electrical & Electronic Engineers 

   667 Nuclear Engineers  

   639 Design & Development Engineers

   594 Manufacturing Engineers

   570 Solicitors

   531 Supply Chain / Logistics Professionals

   507 Banking/Financial Services/Investment Professionals   

   477 Building Services Design Engineers

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

   406 Cyber Security Professionals

   401 Aerospace Engineers

   363 Digital Marketing Professionals

   347 Professional Economists

   341 Sales Professionals

   332 Laboratory Scientists

   286 Consulting Professionals

   279 Healthcare Science Practitioners (65 Biomedical Sciences, 52 Radiation Physics & Engineering, 33 Cardiac Physiology, 31 Nuclear Medicine, 24 Audiology, 23 Respiratory & Sleep Physiology, 21 Medical Engineering, 20 Neurophysiology, 5 Digital Healthcare Science, 3 Clinical Informatics, 1 Rehabilitation Engineering, 1 Renal Technology) 

   276 Environmental Practitioners

   236 Food Technologists

   224 Chartered Building Surveyors

   222 Electromechanical Engineers

   207 Chartered Managers: Retail Leadership

   204 Railway & Rail Systems Engineers

   190 Chartered Managers: Hospitality (Restaurants/Fast Food)

   188 Construction Site Managers

   181 Chartered Managers: Food/Drink Manufacturing & Production   

   174 Operating Department Practitioners (NHS)

   167 Project Controls Professionals  

   165 Control Systems & Technical Support Engineers

   152 Radiographers (81 Diagnostic, 71 Therapeutic)

   131 Occupational Therapists

   114 Social Workers    

   113 Materials Science Technologists/Engineers 

   105 Digital User Experience (UX) Designers 

     94 Podiatrists

     89 Design & Construction Managers / Architectural Technologists

     84 Creative Digital Designers

     83 Chemical/Process Engineers

     80 Non-Destructive Testing Engineers

     77 Town Planners

     75 Chartered Managers: Recruitment Specialists

     70 Building Control Surveyors

     69 Packaging Technologists 

     64 Environmental Health Officers

     61 Clinical Trials Specialists

     58 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 (OME) Engineers

     41 Marketing/Brand Managers

     41 Physiotherapists     

     40 Transport Planners

     39 Geospatial Mapping Specialists / Land Surveyors

     37 Public Health Practitioners

     35 Architectural Assistants 

     35 Chartered Managers: Social Change, Charities & Voluntary Sector 

     34 Chartered Managers: Hotel Management

     34 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

     21 Speech & Language Therapists

     20 Medical Doctors

     17 Dietitians

     16 Forestry Professionals

     15 Chartered Surveyors: Land Buyers

     14 Paramedics

     13 Environmental Engineers

     12 Theme Park Engineers

     10 Propulsion Engineers

     10 Youth Workers

       9 Agricultural/Horticultural Advisers

       9 Trading Standards Officers  

       8 Chartered Managers: Buying & Procurement

       8 Financial Risk Management

       8 Gas Transmission Engineers

       6 Actuarial Professionals     

       6 Chartered Legal Executives   

       6 Space Systems Engineers

       5 Chartered Managers: Fitness & Leisure Centres

       5 Operations Analysts

       5 Risk & Safety Managers

       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 TV Production Managers

       2 Emergency Planning Officers       

       2 Facilities Managers

       2 Licensed Conveyancers

       2 Lighting Designers

       2 Pensions Professionals

       2 Robotics Engineers

       2 Service Designers       

       2 Sonographers

       1 Assistant Archaeologist

       1 Community Centre Manager

       1 Events Manager       

       1 Games Programmer

       1 Human Performance 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 124 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
• 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
• Network Engineer, DevOps Engineer, Solutions Engineer, Digital Solutions Engineer, Digital Engineer, Digital & Technology Engineer, Digital Manufacturing Engineer, Advanced Manufacturing Engineer, Software 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
• Network Architect, Enterprise Architect, Digital Solutions Architect, Technology Architect
• Financial Technologist (FinTech), Legal Technologist, People (HR) Solutions Technologist, Innovation Technologist, Credit Trading Technologist, Global Equities 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
• Content Strategist, Quantitative Strategist
• AI Implementation Specialist, Infrastructure Specialist, DevOps/NetOps Specialist, Client Success Specialist, Insurance Consulting 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,  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, Digital Social Media Executive, AI Technical Sales Adviser, Project Co-ordinator, IT Support / Helpdesk Administrator

Higher Apprenticeships (Levels 4/5):

In total there have been 28,226 new vacancies spread across 156 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 £15K. The occupational breakdown is as follows:

2,339 Sales Executives

1,978 Accounting Technicians

1,692 Software Developers 

1,684 Data Analysts

1,625 Project Management Associates

1,406 Sports Coaches (Children & Young People)   

1,112 Nursing Associates

   849 Construction Site Supervisors

   781 Manufacturing Engineering Technicians 

   728 Quantity Surveying Technicians

   711 Taxation Technicians

   685 Network Engineers

   634 Business Analysts 

   506 Commercial Procurement & Supply Practitioners

   501 Cyber Security Technologists

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

   475 Civil/Site Engineering Technicians

   455 Software Testers

   447 Public Relations & Communications Assistants

   439 Electrical & Electronic Technician Engineers  

   389 Building Services Engineering Technicians

   376 Investment Operations Specialists

   345 Insurance Practitioners  

   332 Buying & Merchandising Assistants

   297 DevOps Engineers

   292 Junior Management Consultants

   291 Marketing Executives

   285 Retail Managers

   281 Technician Scientists

   270 Healthcare Associate Practitioners (150 Reablement, 69 Multidisciplinary, 9 Diagnostic Radiography, 9 Mammography, 7 Radiology, 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, 1 Wheelchair Therapist)

   264 Construction Design & Build / Architectural Technicians

   246 Associate Ambulance Practitioners

   225 Early Years Lead Practitioners

   215 Regulatory Compliance Officers

   205 Police Community Support Officers

   203 Policy Practitioners

   196 Intelligence Analysts

   191 Healthcare Science Associates/Technicians (64 Audiology & Hearing Aid Dispensing, 46 Medical Engineering, 39 Respiratory Physiology, 24 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)

   186 Mineral Products Technicians 

   170 People Professionals / HR Specialists

   161 Railway Engineering Technicians

   159 Quality Practitioners/Engineers   

   158 Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability Practitioners

   147 Food Production Technicians & Process Leaders

   143 Propulsion Technicians (Automotive/Aerospace)

   141 Hospitality Managers

   130 Air Traffic Controllers

   129 Nuclear Technicians

   105 Vehicle Damage Assessors

   102 Internal Audit Practitioners

     98 Actuarial Technicians

     97 Journalists    

     95 Audiovisual Technicians

     87 Applications Support Leads

     84 Financial Advisers/Paraplanners

     79 Recruitment Consultants

     78 Automation & Controls Engineering Technicians

     78 Brewers      

     67 Business Operations Managers 

     61 Market Research Executives

     60 Revenues & Welfare Benefits Officers

     57 Information Managers 

     57 Learning & Skills Mentors/Coaches

     55 Business Improvement Practitioners

     55 Paralegals

     54 Dairy Technologists

     53 TV/Media Production Co-ordinators

     49 Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS) Engineers

     47 Engineering Maintenance Technicians

     46 Ordnance Munitions & Explosives (OME) Technicians

     42 Housing/Property/Lettings Managers

     35 Countryside Rangers

     33 Aircraft Engineering Technicians    

     29 Estate Agency Sales Negotiators

     25 Engineer Surveyors

     22 Data Protection Officers

     22 Land Referencers

     20 Acoustics Technicians

     20 Digital Accessibility Specialists   

     20 Gymnastics/Trampoline Coaches

     18 Digital Community Managers

     18 Football Coaches (Children & Young People)

     16 Facilities Managers

     15 Air Transport Operations Managers

     15 Fibre Cable Engineers

     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 (Road/Rail)

     11 Film/TV Post-Production Technical Operators

     10 Antisocial Behaviour & Community Safety Officers

     10 Counter Fraud Investigators

     10 Employability Practitioners

     10 Publishing Professionals

     10 Town Planning Technicians 

       9 Early Intervention Practitioners

       9 Marine Engineering Technicians

       9 Port Marine Operations Officers       

       9 Rehabilitation Officers (Visual Impairment) 

       8 Dental Technicians

       8 Digital Learning Designers

       8 School Business Professionals

       7 Asset Managers

       7 Computer Games Developers

       7 Digital Product Managers

       7 Fire Safety Inspectors

       6 Music Teachers

       6 Outdoor Learning Specialists

       5 Arboriculturists / Tree Officers

       5 Broadcasting Technical Operators

       5 Data Engineers

       5 Tax Technology Technicians

       5 Unified Communications Troubleshooters

       5 Visual Merchandisers

       4 Aircraft Certifying Technicians

       4 Culinary Chefs

       4 Music Recording Technicians

       4 Padel Coaches

       4 Space Engineering 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 (Children & Young People)

       2 Energy Specialists 

       2 Health Play Specialists      

       2 Horticultural/Landscaping Technicians

       2 Lifting Equipment Operations Engineers  

       2 Manufacturing Process Leaders      

       2 Marine Pilots

       2 Travel Executives

       2 Water Recycling Engineers

       1 Basketball Coach (Children & Young People)

       1 Chemical Process Technician

       1 Conveyancing Technician

       1 Cultural Heritage Conservation Technician

       1 Customs & Foreign Exchange Specialist

       1 Fitness Club Manager

       1 Fitness Instructor

       1 Goalkeeping Coach (Children & Young People)

       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 63,544 higher and degree apprenticeships advertised in England since January 2020 have been distributed as follows:

• Greater London (14,126)
• Yorkshire (5,595)
• West Midlands (4,104)
• Greater Manchester (3,551)
• Bristol & Gloucestershire (3,126)
• Hampshire (2,262)
• Berkshire (2,054)
• Hertfordshire (1,451)
• Surrey (1,438)
• Tyne & Wear (1,331)
• Cheshire (1,327)
• Cambridgeshire (1,263)
• Nottinghamshire (1,170)
• Derbyshire (1,158)
• Cumbria (1,155)
• Sussex (1,155)
• Merseyside (1,118)
• Lancashire (1,056)
• Essex (1,051)
• Devon (975)
• Warwickshire (939)
• Buckinghamshire (936)
• Suffolk (907)
• Kent (873)
• Somerset & South Bristol (842)
• Leicestershire (827)
• Dorset (802)
• Oxfordshire (790)
• Wiltshire (751)
• Bedfordshire (734)
• Staffordshire (700)
• County Durham (593)
• Northamptonshire (535)
• Lincolnshire (499)
• Norfolk (452)
• Cornwall (440)
• Worcestershire (438)
• Shropshire (397)
• Isle of Wight (99)
• Northumberland (97)
• Herefordshire (69)
• Rutland (19)
• Remote-working or flexible location* (112)
• Region specified but not county (87)
• Unspecified region (140)

*Regarding remote-working, something that’s been very noticeable since the pandemic in 2020 is not so much a big increase in remote-working but a big increase in hybrid-working. This can take various forms, but it usually means that an apprentice is required to be on-site for at least one or two days per week but otherwise can work from home. I don’t collect data on this, but I think it’s important to be aware that even for apprentices it’s now quite a common pattern of working in roles where it’s practically possible to work from home.

Regional data: The table below shows how the breakdown by county stacks 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:

• 14,126   London (1,078,600: 13.10)
•   6,945   South West (645,800: 10.75)
•   6,695   West Midlands (720,900: 9.29)
•   8,207   North West (884,600: 9.28)
•   9,607   South East (1,040,500: 9.23)
•   5,858   East of England (685,300: 8.55)
•   5,611   Yorkshire & The Humber (670,800: 8.36)
•   4,115   East Midlands (593,700: 6.93)
•   2,128   North East (313,000: 6.80)
•      112   Remote or flexible
•      140   Unspecified region

• 63,544   Total England (6,633,200: 9.58)

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 frequent updates during the 2024/25 academic year and all being well, there will be a further update next Sunday.     

Footnote – how the data has been collected plus some general observations   

Since 1^st January 2020 I’ve kept a record of degree, professional 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. Where you live and/or whether you’re prepared to re-locate 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. In these cases my policy 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 63,554 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, 20/10/2024

https://alanbullockcareers.com