Apprenticeships Are Attracting More & More Applications Per Vacancy

During February and April this year, almost 370,000 applications were submitted, while 32,600 vacancies were advertised in the same period.

Competition was particularly high for vacancies that centred around arts, media and IT. In these cases, numbers were as high as 17 applications per vacancy.

The National Apprenticeship Service said there had been a 32% increase in demand for such subsidised on-the-job training placements since last year.

However, vacancies have not kept pace with rising demand, going up only 15% over the same period in the previous year.

The number of applications per vacancy went above 11 for the first time, although it had been hovering around 10 for some time, according to the NAS. Nonetheless, the NAS said there were 17,700 available vacancies online late last month, the highest on record.

Alternative career route
The most popular area for apprenticeships was business and administration, with 101,510 applications made and 7,702 vacancies posted online.

But those seeking apprenticeships in the arts, publishing, media and ICT face the stiffest competition with 17 applications per vacancy.

Grants of £1,500
NAS executive director David Way said the figures demonstrated that the popularity of apprenticeships continued to rise and in a greater range of occupations than before.

“The increase in vacancies shows that more and more individuals are seeing apprenticeships as a great way to start out in their chosen career.”

Government offers small and medium-sized companies grants of £1,500 to take on a 16 to 24-year-old as an apprentice.

Here at Central Mailing Services we believe apprenticeships are fast becoming the norm for young people who want to achieve their career goals through an alternative route to university. As a result, we have taken full advantage of the situation, and are privileged to be working with 3 apprentices of our own. Each one is proving to be a valuable asset to our team, and based on their success we are currently looking for a fourth.

Blog