Yahoo Finance The apprenticeships with the fastest-rising earnings
Demand for apprenticeships is outstripping supply. The job market’s need for young workers equipped with practical skills is no secret.
The salaries offered by employers are shooting up accordingly. The latest data from the Department for Education (DfE) show that in the 2020/21 tax year, five years after qualifying, apprentices were taking home a median wage of £27,700.
This is up 29.4pc on the £21,400 comparable figure for those who completed schemes half a decade earlier – a raise well-above inflation at a time when wage growth was stagnating.
England used to churn out half a million fully-trained apprentices a year. University has been dominant more recently, but the lure of no student debt and a competitive salary is turning the tide.
No sector may prove quite as attractive as marketing and sales – ex-apprentices in this area saw their earnings explode by 54.4pc in just five years.
From an average salary of £19,000 five years into their careers in the 2016/17 tax year, marketing and sales apprentices – who go on to become PR consultants, estate agents or sales managers – were found to be earning £29,500 in 2020/21.
The second-most significant wage uplift was felt by qualified media and communications apprentices (49pc), followed by those in service enterprises (44.7pc), which encompass a variety of professions from hairstyling and beauty to cleaning and funeral services.
Across the board, former apprentices in 24 out of 27 sectors saw their pay go up by more than the 1.9pc average inflation over the period.
The three missing out were ICT practitioners (although their wages remained among the highest on offer throughout), those in warehousing and distribution, and those in travel and tourism.
At a qualification-specific level, among intermediate apprenticeships – between 12 and 18 months long and yielding a GCSE-equivalent – future earnings increased the most in spectator safety.
The job entails monitoring entries and exits, resolving conflicts and dealing with accidents and emergencies. Wages went up 65pc over the period, from £12,500 to £21,000.
For advanced apprenticeships – A-level equivalents lasting between two and four years – former animal care apprentices, who went on to work in veterinary centres, animal hospitals and park management, saw the biggest salary uptick, from £15,500 to £23,800 (53.6pc).
Rose Stephenson, director of policy and advocacy at the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI), said: “Apprenticeships have been championed in recent years, including by the current Government.
“There has been an increase in their esteem and popularity, and this is a welcome change to some of the classist attitudes we’ve historically seen towards apprenticeship qualifications.
“Apprenticeships can be an attractive choice compared to a traditional university degree. Apprentices are paid (although pay can be as low as £6.40 per hour, so apprentices often need family support or additional income to meet their living costs) and they gain work experience as they train.”
Despite this Ms Stephenson highlighted that apprenticeship recruits remained well below 2015 levels – particularly among under 19-year-olds – and that completion rates fall short of the 67pc target set by ministers.
She added: “So, while apprenticeships are a welcome and important part of the qualifications landscape, a focus is needed on outcomes – and when this is improved – supply and accessibility.
“In particular, if policymakers are serious about apprenticeships becoming a standard alternative for young people, they need to look at the limitations on the supply of places – including the bureaucracy and funding rules for universities wanting to deliver degree apprenticeships.”
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