For a number of years an oft repeated argument has been that negative perceptions of apprenticeships and technical education in general are largely to blame for the low numbers of starts. The finger was often pointed at careers advisers and poor information and advice in general. The argument went that if only young people and their parents released that apprenticeships weren’t just undertaken in “oily rag” occupations, then the low take up would be largely solved. I’ve heard this message repeated time and again in events and conferences, in reports, for example the UUK Future of Degree Apprenticeships report citing that a ‘lack of student awareness’ were holding back degree apprenticeship growth, and listened with growing frustration as the Education Select Committee on Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance earlier this year tied itself up in knots about how we can get more young people to consider this option.
Here at Linking London we have regularly highlighted that the real issue is not that that there aren’t enough young people interested in apprenticeships, particularly at higher level, but rather the lack of opportunities. The results of our mapping of apprenticeship opportunities in London clearly illustrate the point. Since 2017, we have, drawing from several sources, including the gov.uk find an apprenticeship search facility, undertaken regular updates for partners on the number of higher and degree apprenticeship vacancies in Greater London. While, leaving aside the significant dip during the pandemic, we have seen a gradual increase in opportunities, which is of course very welcome, they are still not easy to come by. From the period December 22 – July 23 individual employer postings have ranged from 77 to a peak of 213 (equating to between 146 – 618 individual vacancies). And it’s worth noting that many vacancies are rolled over month by month, so these are not all “new” vacancies. Taking the highest figure, 618 vacancies, this would still only equate to 19 vacancies per London borough.
Two reports published recently, by the Sutton Trust & UCAS and the Careers Enterprise Company (CEC), come to the same conclusion; that the issue of the lack of apprenticeship starts, particularly at higher levels, is a supply rather than demand side issue. On the former report, Sir Peter Lampl, Founder and Chairman of the Sutton Trust, sums up the key issue well: “The big problem with apprenticeships is not the lack of demand by young people but the derisory level of supply which is available”. The report noted that three in five (61%) students previously interested in starting an apprenticeship cited ‘there aren’t any apprenticeships near me’, making it the most common reason for this group. The CEC report cited employers’ willingness to offer (apprenticeship) opportunities as the largest barrier to young people’s transition onto apprenticeship pathways.
Demand for higher level apprenticeships is only likely to grow, as the cost-of-living crisis continues to influence student choice. Recent UCAS surveys of applicants to HE highlights that 430,000 students stated that they are interested in apprenticeships. This compares with starts at Levels 4 and above at around 5,000 for those under 19 nationally, some of which will be existing employees. If we look at data for London for 2021-22, 50% of higher-level apprenticeship starts are, by age group, 25+, and 34% 19–24-year-olds, leaving 5% in the under 19 age bracket (equating to 680 starts). It’s fairly safe to assume that the majority of starts then are by people already in the workplace. While I’m an advocate of employees improving their lot by taking an apprenticeship to progress up the career ladder, especially in shortage areas like nursing, we do have a serious issue around take up by younger learners.
I’m not for one moment suggesting that we dial back on promoting apprenticeships to young people, or adults for that matter, but I do think that the argument that a key sticking point to apprenticeship growth lies with a lack of awareness of them can distract from the far bigger issue of growing the number of opportunities. We need more employers, especially small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), willing to take on young people, including those that have previously completed an advanced apprenticeship. 99% of UK businesses are SMEs, but of these businesses, 90% have not engaged with apprenticeships at all. The reasons for this are complex and would justify a separate blog, but government needs to take a serious look at the barriers to take up and how we can incentivise these businesses to do so. Cracking this would go a long way to redressing the imbalance between supply and demand.
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