National Apprenticeship Week: record numbers apply for apprenticeships via UCAS

Emma Finamore
18 Mar 2016

The site has seen an increase of 20% on 2014, and 9,330 applications submitted last year.

A record number of people have applied for apprenticeships through UCAS’ post-GCSE service, it has been revealed during National Apprenticeship Week.

Students submitted a huge 9,330 apprenticeship applications through UCAS Progress – UCAS’ post-GCSE service for pre-university courses – in 2015. This is an increase of 20% on 2014.

The system lists more than 130,000 A-level, BTEC, apprenticeship and other vocational courses, and also offers advice on making successful choices, an application service, and careers information.

Gina Bradbury, head of post-16 development at UCAS, said: “Young people are making education and training choices in a very complex landscape now, with vocational courses becoming increasingly popular both as a route to employment and into higher education.

“It’s a big step forward to see more and more teenagers discovering apprenticeships and other post-16 courses through UCAS Progress, which builds on our long experience of helping people make the right university choices.”

According to the Skills Funding Agency, in 2014-15, 1,583,669 people applied for apprenticeships via on-line applications. There are 1,500 apprenticeship job roles over 170 apprenticeship industries, from advertising to youth work, and from environmental engineering to legal services.

There are now 75 Higher and Degree apprenticeships available, including foundation degrees, HNDs and full honours degrees.

The agency also says that 1,300 employers have been involved in designing the new apprenticeships standards.

UCAS Progress lets students explore career opportunities and search academic and vocational courses in their location and across England and Wales. It is free for students and parents, and for schools advising 11-16 year olds, with schools and colleges opting to receive applications through UCAS Progress paying a small subscription.

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