One of the things I’ve loved most during my time at Edge Foundation is seeing interest in apprenticeships bloom among young people. When we were founded over 20 years ago, apprenticeships were seen as a route for “other people’s children”. But we’re now seeing attitudes alter.
A few days ago the latest Youth Voice Census, sponsored by Edge, revealed more than a third of young people think they are likely or very likely to apply for an apprenticeship.
But this interest isn’t being translated into apprenticeship numbers. In fact, the number of under-19s starting apprenticeships has fallen in recent years.
In part, this is driven by a lack of opportunities. Our research has shown that for every young person who gets a place on an apprenticeship, three try but don’t succeed.
So how do we unlock these apprenticeship places? Firstly, as we set out in our new report, Chaos to Coordination, by better signposting opportunities.
The government’s Find an Apprenticeship service is the natural place to start. But almost two in five employers say they have not heard of it (according to our polling with the Recruitment and Employment Confederation), while the Youth Voice Census found just one in five apprentices found their apprenticeship there.
Many employers choose to advertise vacancies on their own websites or, in the case of SMEs, prefer to hire through their existing business networks. The result is that finding opportunities is extraordinarily difficult for young people. They are compelled to trawl through dozens of websites and platforms, all while balancing their studies and without the same support they would get if applying for university.
Our vision is for a true one-stop shop, where employers are required to signpost their opportunities on a single, central platform as a condition of funding, and where prospective applicants can access a wide variety of support. Almost three-quarters of the employers we polled thought this would be useful for them too.
We also want to see the application process itself work better, with a national campaign encouraging employers to align their application windows with the school year, and a new ‘clearing’ system to help match unsuccessful applicants with opportunities at other companies.
We also need to look at increasing the number of apprenticeships available. That means tapping into a market that doesn’t get enough attention – SMEs.
SMEs have historically been the lifeblood of entry-level apprenticeships, offering young people a first step into work, often outside the big cities. Yet since the introduction of the apprenticeship levy, SMEs have steadily withdrawn.
The system is designed with big business in mind, and smaller firms often lack the time, money and administrative capacity to navigate it. These businesses deserve the chance to access new talent and grow. But at present, they face too many barriers.
Our second new report, Agents of Change, calls for a national brokerage service to help smaller employers identify their skills needs and navigate the apprenticeship system. When we surveyed SMEs with the help of the REC, 68 per cent said personalised advice and guidance would be a decisive or encouraging factor in whether they chose to hire an apprentice.
Encouragingly, work has already begun on delivering this through the National Apprenticeship Hub Network, a group of around 25 organisations providing free and impartial guidance to businesses. The problem is coverage and consistency. Our vision is a nationally coordinated framework that builds on this existing network, expanding provision and levelling up support so that every small business can benefit.
To bring all this work together, Edge is launching Apprenticeships Work, a campaign to grow apprenticeship opportunities in SMEs by breaking down the barriers they face and expanding support services.
We are incredibly pleased to be working alongside organisations including the Federation of Small Businesses, Amazing Apprenticeships, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, and Specsavers. Together, we will make apprenticeships work.
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