8,400 apprenticeships positions currently waiting to be filled

• 8,400 apprenticeship vacancies currently advertised, but long way to go to meet government target of 3 million vacancies by 2020
• Opportunities around the UK far from equal, with London and the South East having most vacancies
• Average advertised salary for apprenticeships positions of £14,759 across UK
• Law apprenticeships most lucrative, offering average salary of £23,900, the highest of any sector, followed by Engineering at £22,500
• IT apprentices most widely advertised with 1,100 openings currently on offer, followed by Hospitality & Catering (1,050) and Teaching (740)

With National Apprenticeship Week in full swing, almost 8,400 apprenticeship positions are currently up for grabs, according to new research by job search-engine Adzuna.

The study, which uses Adzuna’s live job market data to reveal how many UK opportunities are on offer to those looking for an apprenticeship, shows there are currently 8,374 advertised apprenticeship vacancies available in the UK, offering an average salary of £14,759.

This may seem low considering the Government target of creating 3 million apprenticeships by 2020*, but it is likely that apprenticeship vacancies will rise significantly in early summer, when exam season concludes and potential apprentices set their sights on the jobs market. Nevertheless, new apprenticeship starts may also have been curbed by the recently introduced apprenticeship levy.

For those looking now, location will determine how many opportunities are available, with many of the vacancies currently available clustered in London and the South East. Jobseekers seeking a training-scheme have 2,484 openings to choose from in the Greater London region, and 1,088 in the South East. However, there are far fewer apprenticeship vacancies available in other areas of the UK, including just 90 on offer in Wales and only 289 in the North East, potentially hindering some apprenticeship applicants.

Outside of the capital, the cities home to the most advertised apprenticeship vacancies are Manchester (198), Birmingham (166), Leeds (127), Bristol (117) and Reading (110), all worth considering for potential applicants.

Legal apprenticeships offer the most dough

Apprentices in the Legal sector can expect the highest pay, with advertised wages in this area of £23,904. Engineering placements follow close behind, with an average salary of £22,512 on offer for apprenticeship schemes. Teaching placements (£20,814), Consultancy positions (£18,864), and Maintenance openings (£18,461) round-off the top 5 most lucrative apprenticeship opportunities.

However, these well-paid positions are not necessarily the most readily available. The sectors currently offering most apprenticeship positions are IT (1,085), Hospitality & Catering (1,046), and Teaching (740) while there are only 9 Legal opportunities currently available.

For those hoping to study and train in tandem, there are currently 1,096 Graduate Apprenticeships on offer, whereby time at work, alongside study, counts as credits towards a university qualification. There are currently four different courses on offer through this scheme, IT: software development, IT: management for business, Civil engineering, and Engineering: design and manufacture, with further courses currently in development.

Doug Monro, co-founder of Adzuna, comments: “Increasing apprenticeships is crucial to unlock the skills crisis currently constraining our key industries. The government has set an ambitious target to help encourage young blood in skills shortage areas like engineering and teaching. Publicising and filling these opportunities will be key. Developing further flexible options like graduate apprenticeships, will help encourage applicants who wish to study alongside learning on the job, and this should be expanded further. Another issue is that apprenticeships are currently clustered in the South East corner of the country, and opportunities in the other regions of the UK need to be fostered.

“With university tuition fees at an all-time high, more young people are looking at alternative ways to up-skill after school, without the hefty price tag. Apprenticeships offer a cost-effective way of training on the job as well as developing new talent in skills shortage areas. This makes them a win-win solution for both employers and jobseekers.”

Table 1: Top 10 Regional Apprenticeship Hotspots

Table 2: Best Paid Apprenticeship Sectors

* https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/482754/BIS-15-604-english-apprenticeships-our-2020-vision.pdf