Apprenticeships data highlights ongoing financial pressure for education

31 January 2025

The government has published its apprenticeships data in England for the first quarter of the 2024/25 academic year, showing that apprenticeship starts were up by 1.3%. However, continuing the trend from the 2023/24 academic year, higher apprenticeships were the area of biggest growth, up by 8.1% overall, with level 6 and 7 apprenticeships reported collectively as being up 10.9%. 
Analysis undertaken by RSM identified that 43% of the starts at levels 6 and 7 were level 7 whereas for 2023/24, 48% were at level 7. 

Louise Tweedie, partner and higher education specialist at RSM UK, comments: “The latest apprenticeships statistics indicate that challenges may be on the horizon for the education sector, including for providers, regulators, funders and government. The drop in the number of level 7 apprenticeships may herald the expectation of defunding at level 7 and a switch of focus. Figures also revealed that learners with a learning difficulty/disability (LLDD) increased by 3.7% and now account for 16.3% of the cohort. 

“Similar reports are emerging from schools, so as these pupils flow through into further learning or employment, we expect to see a continued upward trend. This may place pressure on additional learning support funding for adults and apprentices. However, there has been a drop in the number of apprenticeships starts with levy funding, falling to 63.8% in 2024/25. This could reflect that levy paying employers are potentially not recruiting as many apprentices as they have in previous years and could in turn be linked to the lower volume of learners being enrolled onto level 7 apprenticeships.

She added: “UCAS data for 2023/24 also shows a downward trend in the numbers of those applying for teacher training. The government’s manifesto pledge outlined its intentions to recruit several thousand more, so this is certainly an interesting trend when the financial sustainability of the sector has never been more important. Government will have to make some difficult choices in relation to the funding available to support the increasing needs of learners so that education and employment providers can build the workforce needed for the growth-driving industries outlined in the Industrial Strategy.”