Recent BBC analysis has highlighted a striking trend in the UK’s early careers landscape: demand for degree apprenticeships is soaring, but the number of opportunities available is shrinking.
According to the findings, applications for degree apprenticeships through the government’s Find an Apprenticeship platform have almost tripled over the past three years, while the number of advertised positions has nearly halved. There are now more than 11 applicants for every Level 6 apprenticeship opportunity, compared with fewer than three applicants per vacancy in 2023.
To put that into perspective, degree apprenticeships are now more competitive than Oxbridge applications, where there are typically around seven applicants per place at Oxford University and five to six applicants per place at Cambridge University. For many young people, securing a degree apprenticeship has become one of the most competitive routes into higher education and professional employment.
At the Classroom to Boardroom Foundation, we have seen first-hand how attitudes towards apprenticeships have evolved. Once viewed as an alternative pathway, apprenticeships are now increasingly seen as a highly desirable route into professional careers.
Our own student survey found that 72% of respondents believe apprenticeships are an equally good or better alternative to university.
The challenge is no longer encouraging young people to consider apprenticeships. The challenge is ensuring there are enough opportunities to meet growing demand, and that those opportunities are accessible to talented students from all backgrounds.
It is easy to understand why apprenticeships are attracting more interest than ever before.
Young people are increasingly weighing the costs and benefits of different post-18 pathways. Rising university costs, concerns around student debt and a desire to gain practical experience earlier in their careers are leading many students to explore alternatives to the traditional university route. Our own research shows that students are thinking more strategically about their futures, with career progression, organisation reputation, salary and work-life balance ranking among the most important factors when evaluating opportunities.
Apprenticeships offer something unique: the opportunity to earn a salary, gain real workplace experience and achieve recognised qualifications simultaneously. Across sectors including financial services, technology, accounting, consulting and investment management, apprenticeships are opening doors to exciting long-term careers.
For employers, apprenticeships are also proving to be an effective way to build future talent pipelines, address skills gaps and improve workforce diversity. Research suggests that apprentices in England will contribute £25 billion to economic growth over their lifetimes, highlighting the significant value they create for both businesses and the wider economy.
Despite these benefits, however, the BBC reports that increasing employment costs and ongoing economic uncertainty may be causing some organisations to scale back hiring plans, creating a growing disconnect between the number of talented young people seeking apprenticeship opportunities and the number of positions available. Closing that gap will require continued commitment from employers, policymakers and industry partners to ensure apprenticeships can fulfil their potential as both a skills solution and a driver of social mobility.
At the Classroom to Boardroom Foundation, apprenticeships represent far more than an alternative route into employment. We see them as one of the most powerful tools available to improve social mobility and tackle the growing crisis of youth disengagement from education and work.
Our vision is simple: a future where a young person’s economic background does not limit their professional or personal success. More than half of the students in our network have been eligible for free school meals, 44% are first-generation university students and 100% attend state schools.
This challenge has never been more pressing. Alan Milburn’s recent Young People and Work review found that almost one million 16 to 24-year-olds are now not in education, employment or training (NEET), with warnings that the UK risks creating a “lost generation” if action isn’t taken.
For many of the students we support, apprenticeships can provide the opportunity, experience and professional networks needed to access careers that might otherwise feel out of reach. Yet there remains a stark contradiction. While apprenticeships are often championed as a driver of social mobility, Sutton Trust research shows that only 5% of degree apprentices have been eligible for free school meals.
In other words, one of our most effective tools for creating opportunity is not always reaching the young people who could benefit from it most. At a time when policymakers, employers and educators are looking for solutions to the youth opportunity gap, expanding access to apprenticeships must be part of the answer.
For students, the growing gap between the demand for apprenticeships and the number of opportunities means navigating increasingly competitive application processes. Many degree apprenticeship programmes now attract application numbers comparable to, and in some cases exceeding, the UK’s most competitive university courses and graduate schemes. For employers, however, this challenge presents an opportunity. Many organisations are grappling with skills shortages, succession planning challenges and increasing pressure to attract diverse talent. Apprenticeships offer a practical solution to all three, helping employers build sustainable talent pipelines while investing in the future workforce.
Through the Growth and Skills Levy, many larger employers already have funding available to support apprenticeships and workforce development. Yet billions of pounds of levy funding continue to go unused each year.
At a time when demand from young people has never been stronger, expanding apprenticeship opportunities is not only a business opportunity, but a social imperative. By investing in apprenticeships, employers can help address skills gaps, improve social mobility and create meaningful pathways into employment for the next generation.
The growing popularity of apprenticeships should be seen as a positive sign. It reflects a generation of young people who are ambitious, informed and actively seeking high-quality routes into skilled careers. Far from being a “Plan B”, apprenticeships are increasingly becoming a first-choice destination for students looking to gain qualifications, build professional networks and accelerate their careers without taking on significant debt.
What is needed now is collective action to ensure opportunities keep pace with ambition. Alongside creating more opportunities, employers must also recognise the strategic value of apprenticeships, not simply as an early career’s initiative, but as a powerful tool for developing talent, addressing skills shortages and improving social mobility.
That means:
At the Classroom to Boardroom Foundation, we are committed to playing our part by raising awareness, preparing students for apprenticeship applications and working with employer partners to create opportunities that genuinely improve social mobility.
The evidence is clear: young people want apprenticeships, employers need talent and the economy needs skills.
Our collective challenge now is to bring those three things together.
