Please note: I usually publish a new updated report every Sunday night, so you can find all the latest data and a more up-to-date 2025 employer list in my Week 254 post on the Alan’s Blog page.
Latest reflections on the situation in England
There were 16 new entrants to my 2025 list this week, including some of the bigger names. Amongst them were:
- National Grid: with around 100 HA and DA opportunities by my reckoning, stretching across the country from Blyth in Northumberland to Redruth in Cornwall. The majority of these are HAs and about a third of them are located at their central hub in Warwick. Starting salaries for the majority of these roles are an attractive £29,819, which I imagine reflects the level of responsibility and skills involved.
- Amazon: with almost 200 new DA and HA vacancies, the majority of them in London along with small cohorts in Cambridge, Manchester and Bristol – and possibly with more to come in the weeks ahead.
- Vodafone: with 44 new DA and HA vacancies, just over half of them in London and Newbury and the others in Farnborough, Birmingham, Gloucester, Manchester, Reading and Swindon.
- WSP: with 34 new DA vacancies in London, Basingstoke, Birmingham, Brighton, Bristol, Cambridge, Derby, Guildford, Hertford, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Shrewsbury.
- Barclays: initially in Knutsford, Northampton, Birmingham and Manchester.
- Peters Elworthy & Moore (PEM): with 6 HA vacancies in Cambridge.
- Govia Thameslink: based at their rail depots in London (Battersea, Selhurst and Hornsey) and Brighton.
- National Energy Systems Operator (NESO): in Warwick and Wokingham.
- Procter & Gamble: in Weybridge, and
- Ideagen: with 1 DA vacancy in Ruddington (near Nottingham).
More law firms joined the 2025 list too, albeit with only one or two vacancies per firm per location. The new entrants were:
- Bates Wells, Farrer & Co, Hogan Lovells, HFW and Wedlake Bell, all in London, and
- Eversheds Sutherland in London, Birmingham, Ipswich and Newcastle.
I also picked up some additional numbers with:
- Unilever: now with 50+ DA/HAs (according to my records) in London, Kingston upon Thames, Port Sunlight (Merseyside) and Colworth (Bedfordshire); and
- Thales: now with 30+ DA/HAs (according to my records) in Crawley, Templecombe, Stockport, Bristol, Reading and Doncaster.
The 2025 employer list itself is in the next section below, and if you want to see the locations of any of the other employers on the list, you’ll find a lot of them in the opening reflections of my previous weekly blogposts published in September and October.
One other highlight was the addition of four more job titles to my intriguing (some might say bizarre) list of Digital & Technology Solutions specialisms, including a Sonar Algorithm Specialist.
Meanwhile, my featured image this week was inspired by the National Grid vacancies. It’s a photo I took during one of my local walks on the hill where I live.
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, but some of these say they will close when enough applications have been received, so buyer beware!
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 only have one vacancy in one location, while at the other extreme some 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, PEM, PwC, RSM, RPG, Saffery, Unilever, Westcotts, Zenopa
- Actuarial Technician: WTW
- Air Traffic Control: RAF
- Banking, Investment & Financial Services: AJ Bell, Barclays, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JP Morgan
- Broadcast Ops & Engineering: BBC
- Business Analyst: FSP, Thales
- Business Management (general): BBC, Deloitte, JCB, MBDA, Morrisons, Procter & Gamble, Thales, Unilever, Zenopa
- Buying, Logistics & Supply Chain: Amazon, Coca Cola, GE Aerospace, Morrisons, National Grid
- Chemical Engineering: Unilever
- Civil Engineering: Balfour Beatty, Mott MacDonald, West Sussex CC, WSP
- Compliance & Risk: Barclays, Deloitte, EY
- Construction & Building Services: AWE, Balfour Beatty, Mace, Morgan Sindall, Mott MacDonald, Wates/SES, Whitecode Consulting, WSP
- Consulting: EY, PwC, RSM
- Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability: Balfour Beatty, Wates/SES
- Creative Digital Design: Ideagen, Unilever
- Cyber Security: Amazon, Mercedes-AMG, Thales, Unilever, Vodafone
- Data Science & Analytics: Balfour Beatty, BBC, Thales, Unilever, Vodafone, WTW
- Digital, Software & IT: Airbus, Amazon, Army, Barclays, Beazley, Capula, Compliance 365, Cranswick, EY, FSP, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, MBDA, Mercedes-AMG, MI5 & MI6, Siemens, Smith Institute, Unilever, Vodafone, WTW
- Engineering (Aero/Auto/Elec/Electromech/Manuf/Mech): Airbus, AWE, Capula, GE Aerospace, JCB, MBDA, Mercedes-AMG, National Grid, NESO, Siemens, Thales, WSP
- Environmental Practitioner: Balfour Beatty, Mace, Mott MacDonald
- Facilities, Fire, Health & Safety: Airbus, AWE, Balfour Beatty
- Food Technology & Production Management: Morrisons, Unilever
- Forestry: Savills
- HR: Balfour Beatty, National Grid
- Insurance: Beazley, WTW
- Intelligence Analyst: Army, RAF, Royal Navy
- Journalism: BBC
- Laboratory Science: AWE, Unilever
- Law (Solicitor/Paralegal): Ashurst, Bates Wells, Bristows, Burges Salmon, Cripps, Deloitte, DWF Law, Eversheds Sutherland, Farrer & Co, Forsters, HFW, Hogan Lovells, Linklaters, Michelmores, Mishcon de Reya, RPC, TLT, Travers Smith, Trowers & Hamlins, Watson Farley & Williams, Wedlake Bell, Weightmans, Weil, White & Case
- Marketing: Unilever
- Mineral Products Technician: Hanson, Heidelberg
- Medical Doctor: ESNEFT
- Nuclear: AWE
- OME: Army
- Packaging: Unilever
- Project Management & Control: Airbus, Amazon, AWE, Balfour Beatty, BBC, Mace, National Grid, Thales, Unilever, WSP
- Quality Practitioner: AWE, Balfour Beatty, Mace
- Quantity Surveying: Balfour Beatty, Hanson, Morgan Sindall, Mott MacDonald, National Grid, Wates/SES
- Rail & Rail Systems Engineering: Govia Thameslink, Mott MacDonald, Siemens, WSP
- Rural Surveying: FGP
- Sales: Amazon, Cisco, Coca Cola, Unilever
- Surveying (General Practice): Balfour Beatty, Mace, Mott MacDonald, National Grid, Savills
- Town Planning: Savills
- Transport Operations (Air): Army
- UX Design: AJ Bell, BBC
Headline data (England)
Since 1st 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 28th October to 3rd November I recorded:
- 239 new Degree/Professional Apprenticeship vacancies (Levels 6/7) and
- 230 new Higher Apprenticeship vacancies (Levels 4/5)
- giving a total of 469 for the week
In the 252 weeks from 1st January 2020 to 3rd November 2024 I’ve now recorded:
- 35,665 new Degree/Professional Apprenticeships (Levels 6/7) and
- 28,583 new Higher Apprenticeships (Levels 4/5)
- giving a total of 64,248
The average weekly totals across all 252 weeks have been:
- 142 DAs + 113 HAs = 255 average weekly total
Latest update on Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
Having also tracked new vacancies in the three other devolved nations since 1st June 2022, my latest running totals are as follows:
- Scotland: 1,233 vacancies at SQF Levels 10/11
- Wales: 329 vacancies at Levels 6/7 and 220 at Levels 4/5 (of which 10 required Welsh speakers)
- Northern Ireland: 179 vacancies at Levels 6/7 and 45 at Levels 4/5
My most recent Scotland report was posted in September and I hope to publish more reports covering all three nations sometime in the next few weeks if time allows. This week there were 9 new HAs with National Grid in Wales and according to my sources these were in Cardiff, Swansea, Bangor, Wrexham, Brecon and Haverfordwest.
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 35,665 new vacancies spread across 120 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.
5,687 Accountancy/Tax/Audit Professionals
5,081 Police Constables
3,408 *Digital & Technology Solutions: General
1,529 Civil Engineers
1,457 Chartered Managers: General Business
1,394 Software Engineers/Developers
1,153 Project Managers: General
1,114 Chartered Quantity Surveyors
962 Data Scientists/Analysts/Engineers
858 Nurses (637 Adult, 153 Mental Health, 55 Learning Disability, 13 Child)
697 Electrical & Electronic Engineers
667 Nuclear Engineers
645 Design & Development Engineers
595 Manufacturing Engineers
585 Solicitors
531 Supply Chain / Logistics Professionals
513 Banking/Financial Services/Investment Professionals
484 Building Services Design Engineers
476 Chartered Surveyors: Project Management / Real Estate / General Practice
418 Cyber Security Professionals
401 Aerospace Engineers
374 Sales Professionals
366 Digital Marketing Professionals
347 Professional Economists
332 Laboratory Scientists
286 Consulting Professionals
281 Healthcare Science Practitioners (66 Biomedical Sciences, 52 Radiation Physics & Engineering, 34 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
241 Food Technologists
224 Chartered Building Surveyors
222 Electromechanical Engineers
207 Chartered Managers: Retail Leadership
207 Railway & Rail Systems Engineers
190 Chartered Managers: Hospitality (Restaurants/Fast Food)
190 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
156 Radiographers (83 Diagnostic, 73 Therapeutic)
131 Occupational Therapists
114 Social Workers
113 Materials Science Technologists/Engineers
110 Digital User Experience (UX) Designers
94 Podiatrists
89 Design & Construction Managers / Architectural Technologists
86 Creative Digital Designers
85 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
59 Broadcast & Media Systems Engineers
58 Chartered Rural Surveyors (Land Agents)
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
37 Public Health Practitioners
35 Architectural Assistants
35 Chartered Managers: Social Change, Charities & Voluntary Sector
34 Chartered Managers: Hotel Management
34 Fire Safety Engineers
32 Geospatial Mapping Specialists
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 Chartered Land Surveyors
12 Theme Park Engineers
10 Propulsion Engineers
10 Youth Workers
9 Agricultural/Horticultural Advisers
9 Financial Risk Managers
9 Trading Standards Officers
8 Chartered Managers: Buying & Procurement
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
1 Land Referencer
*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, with four more being added this week, it now encompasses a total of 128 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, Technology Developer, Business Systems Developer, Business Intelligence (BI) Developer, Automation Developer, Automation Test Developer, Full Stack Developer, Prototype Developer, WordPress Developer
- Network Architect, Enterprise Architect, Solutions 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, Technology 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, Sonar Algorithm 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 28,583 new vacancies spread across 159 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:
2,354 Sales Executives
1,988 Accounting Technicians
1,709 Data Analysts
1,696 Software Developers
1,657 Project Management Associates
1,410 Sports Coaches (Children & Young People)
1,113 Nursing Associates
867 Construction Site Supervisors
785 Manufacturing Engineering Technicians
750 Quantity Surveying Technicians
711 Taxation Technicians
685 Network Engineers
638 Business Analysts
525 Procurement & Supply Chain Practitioners
510 Cyber Security Technologists
496 Social Care Practitioners (Adults/Children/Families/Young People)
484 Electrical & Electronic Technician Engineers
476 Civil/Site Engineering Technicians
455 Software Testers
447 Public Relations & Communications Assistants
398 Building Services Engineering Technicians
376 Investment Operations Specialists
373 Buying & Merchandising Assistants
345 Insurance Practitioners
309 DevOps Engineers
292 Junior Management Consultants
292 Marketing Executives
286 Retail Managers
282 Technician Scientists
273 Healthcare Associate Practitioners (150 Reablement, 69 Multidisciplinary, 19 Diagnostic Imaging & Radiology, 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, 1 Wheelchair Therapist)
264 Construction Design & Build / Architectural Technicians
246 Associate Ambulance Practitioners
227 Early Years Lead Practitioners
218 Regulatory Compliance Officers
205 Police Community Support Officers
203 Policy Practitioners
196 Intelligence Analysts
192 Healthcare Science Associates/Technicians (64 Audiology & Hearing Aid Dispensing, 46 Medical Engineering, 39 Respiratory Physiology, 25 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
172 People Professionals / HR Specialists
168 Railway Engineering Technicians
159 Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability Practitioners
159 Quality Practitioners/Engineers
147 Food Production Technicians & Process Leaders
143 Propulsion Technicians (Automotive/Aerospace)
141 Hospitality Managers
130 Air Traffic Controllers
129 Nuclear Technicians
114 Journalists
105 Vehicle Damage Assessors
102 Internal Audit Practitioners
98 Actuarial Technicians
95 Audiovisual Technicians
89 Applications Support Leads
84 Financial Advisers/Paraplanners
79 Recruitment Consultants
78 Automation & Controls Engineering Technicians
78 Brewers
67 Business Operations Managers
64 Revenues & Welfare Benefits Officers
61 Market Research Executives
58 Information Managers
58 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
36 Countryside Rangers
33 Aircraft Engineering Technicians
29 Estate Agency Sales Negotiators
25 Engineer Surveyors
23 Data Protection Officers
22 Land Referencers
20 Acoustics Technicians
20 Digital Accessibility Specialists
20 Digital Product Managers
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
13 Film/TV Post-Production Technical Operators
12 Broadcast & Media Systems Technicians
12 Governance Officers
12 Hygiene Specialists
12 Passenger Transport Operations Managers (Road/Rail)
10 Antisocial Behaviour & Community Safety Officers
10 Counter Fraud Investigators
10 Early Intervention Practitioners
10 Employability Practitioners
10 Publishing Professionals
10 Town Planning Technicians
9 Marine Engineering Technicians
9 Port Marine Operations Officers
9 Rehabilitation Officers (Visual Impairment)
8 Cellular Network Field Engineers
8 Dental Technicians
8 Digital Learning Designers
8 School Business Professionals
7 Asset Managers
7 Computer Games Developers
7 Fire Safety Inspectors
6 Music Teachers
6 Outdoor Learning Specialists
6 Tax Technology Technicians
5 Arboriculturists / Tree Officers
5 Broadcasting Technical Operators
5 Data Engineers
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 64,248 higher and degree apprenticeships advertised in England since January 2020 have been distributed as follows:
- Greater London (14,411)
- Yorkshire (5,620)
- West Midlands (4,133)
- Greater Manchester (3,594)
- Bristol & Gloucestershire (3,156)
- Hampshire (2,277)
- Berkshire (2,075)
- Hertfordshire (1,454)
- Surrey (1,445)
- Tyne & Wear (1,344)
- Cheshire (1,334)
- Cambridgeshire (1,291)
- Nottinghamshire (1,176)
- Sussex (1,171)
- Derbyshire (1,164)
- Cumbria (1,155)
- Merseyside (1,127)
- Lancashire (1,062)
- Essex (1,053)
- Devon (984)
- Warwickshire (977)
- Buckinghamshire (941)
- Suffolk (912)
- Kent (882)
- Somerset & South Bristol (847)
- Leicestershire (833)
- Dorset (811)
- Oxfordshire (794)
- Wiltshire (756)
- Bedfordshire (742)
- Staffordshire (725)
- County Durham (596)
- Northamptonshire (540)
- Lincolnshire (500)
- Norfolk (453)
- Cornwall (444)
- Worcestershire (442)
- Shropshire (400)
- Isle of Wight (100)
- Northumberland (98)
- Herefordshire (70)
- Rutland (19)
- Remote-working or flexible location* (113)
- 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 to three 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, hybrid is 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:
- 14,411 London (1,078,600: 13.36)
- 7,004 South West (645,800: 10.85)
- 6,795 West Midlands (720,900: 9.43)
- 8,272 North West (884,600: 9.35)
- 9,688 South East (1,040,500: 9.31)
- 5,905 East of England (685,300: 8.62)
- 5,633 Yorkshire & The Humber (670,800: 8.40)
- 4,139 East Midlands (593,700: 6.97)
- 2,148 North East (313,000: 6.86)
- 113 Remote or flexible
- 140 Unspecified region
- 64,248 Total England (6,633,200: 9.69)
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 night.
Footnote – how the data has been collected plus some general observations
Since 1st 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 64,248 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, 3/11/2024
Alan Bullock Careers 