Latest reflections The normal pattern for July continued this week with a steady but not prolific spread of new vacancies across England. However, perhaps the most notable development is that I've crunched some more numbers following publication of the first batch of data from the 2021 national census. This has enabled me to update and … Continue reading Week 121: Higher & Degree Apprenticeship overview – with new enhanced regional data

Latest reflections As is the norm for July this was a steady rather than prolific week, but it gives me an opportunity to report on two broader developments. The first is that I’ve been noticing a gradual rise in vacancies that mention hybrid or home working. In a lot of these cases the employer is … Continue reading Week 120: Higher & Degree Apprenticeship overview – hybrid and home-working are here to stay

Latest reflections Somerset was most notable for punching above its weight this week, especially because of a block of Nursing (both Adult and Mental Health) and Nursing Associate vacancies centred around Taunton. As is often the case in Nursing, these vacancies were not specifically aimed at school and college-leavers, but could be appropriate for applicants … Continue reading Week 119: Higher & Degree Apprenticeship cumulative vacancies – there’s more to Tax than you think

Latest reflections This week’s healthy crop of 311 new vacancies included 130 in the East Midlands, many of them with Rolls-Royce’s Defence Submarines business in Derby. Elsewhere, Shropshire was also notable for punching above its weight and as ever an intriguing range of occupations and locations featured, not least a Project Management Associate HA at … Continue reading Week 118: Higher & Degree Apprenticeship cumulative vacancies – lots to report

This is an article I originally wrote for Which? and it proved to be very popular with students and parents. A version of it subsequently appeared on the UCAS website, so they must have liked it too. Are you getting frustrated because you can’t think of a good way to open your personal statement? Or, … Continue reading UCAS personal statements: writing a killer opening (June 2022 update)

I’ve written this article to try and help UCAS applicants who are not fixed on one specific course or subject. If you’ve read my ’20 things’ and/or ‘How to write a killer opening’ articles, you will have got the message that admissions tutors are very keen to hear about why you’ve chosen the course, the … Continue reading UCAS personal statements: applying for a mixture of courses (June 2022 update)

“This is a must-read for students applying for Uni, especially the don'ts.” (Head of Careers, University of Warwick, October 2021) I originally wrote this as four separate online articles for Which?. The articles were very popular and received lots of positive feedback from students, parents, teachers and advisers alike. Last year I decided to re-publish … Continue reading UCAS personal statements: 20 things to put and 20 things not to put (June 2022 update)

Latest reflections This was a solid if unspectacular week, but with plenty of intriguing little details. As always I was careful to sift out vacancies that don’t meet my criteria. For example, those aimed at graduates or applicants with substantial prior experience, or repeat postings of vacancies that I’ve counted previously, usually land on the … Continue reading Week 117: Higher & Degree Apprenticeship cumulative vacancies – the story continues   

Latest reflections One of the factors that sustains my interest in publishing these weekly reports is that the landscape never stops evolving. It’s been fascinating and sometimes surprising to discover what the most prolific occupations and regions are, and at the same time it’s intriguing to observe ‘new’ occupations emerging and to see occasional unexpected … Continue reading Week 116: Higher & Degree Apprenticeship vacancies in England – analysis of 25,000 jobs in a changing landscape   

Latest reflections Although there were only three working days in Week 115, I still recorded 135 new vacancies. And intriguingly Ipswich and Norwich contributed about 20% of them, thanks especially to Willis and Flagship Housing Group respectively. Global insurers Willis in particular have been a prominent and frequent apprenticeship provider in recent years and on … Continue reading Week 115: Higher & Degree Apprenticeship vacancies in England – East Anglia steals the show