Data published last week just reaffirms longer term changes in the nature of apprenticeships – particularly who does them and at what level.
https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships/2024-25
It’s a mistake to see apprenticeships as an alternative pathway for 16- and 17-year-olds not continuing on the academic track, the original intention for their reintroduction at the start of the 2ist century.
Policy wonks and policy writers don’t seem to get this; however, the statistics speak for themselves. While there have been over 350 000 starts during the last 12 months, slightly up on last year, only 1 in 5 have been by under 19s. There’s no data available for 16–17-year-olds, but I’d suspect this total to be minimal. On the contrary, over half of starters have been over 25, in other words, employers are using training funds – large employers pay a levy and smaller ones are only required to contribute about 5% – for existing staff.
Higher apprenticeships continue to grow in 2024/25. Higher apprenticeship starts (level 4 and above) increased by 15.1% to 140,730 compared to 122,230 in 2023/24, while those at Level 6 ( degree level) and Level 7 increased compared to 2023/24 by 20.4% to 60,350. Getting on for a third of all starts are in business and law alone.
The 33,560 at Level 7 points to a new stratum of ‘Masters’ apprentices on part -time MBAs. The UK government has announced plans to stop funding Level 7s after 2026. This is part of a broader review of apprenticeship funding priorities, focusing more on craft/ technician level skills.
Yet there is little evidence that employers want to take on and pay wages to school and college leavers for disappearing ‘entry-level’ roles, a major reason for the decline of (Intermediate) Level 2 and the levelling of (Advanced) Level 3 schemes. This is even more the case when there are graduates queuing up to do this work.
Continued messaging from successive governments emphasises apprenticeships open doors for young people and the NEETs get criticised for not looking for one. But the failure of a work-based route 16 plus is the main reason for the creation of another round of full-time vocational, now rebranded as ‘technical’ qualifications post-16, like the clumsily designed T-level and the proposed new Vs.
But figures show that the majority of those who are able continue to sign up for A-levels, or they have used traditional vocational qualifications like BTECs, which the new Vs are designed to replace, as steppingstones to HE. Everybody else is effectively stranded – or heading to the precariat to be more exact.
Education, Economy and Society 