13 January 2025
The government has published its apprenticeships data in England for the academic year 2023/24, showing that apprenticeship starts were up by 0.7% to 339,580 compared to 337,140 for the previous year.
Analysis undertaken by RSM identified that 23,860 of the starts in 2023/24 related to level 7 apprenticeships. This means that without the level 7 being included, starts fell by 21,420, or 6%, in 2023/24. RSM also found that in 2023/24, 27% of all higher apprenticeships (levels 4 to 7) were delivered by higher education institutions.
Louise Tweedie, partner and higher education specialist at RSM UK, comments: “Whilst the government has been clear about targeting the Growth and Skills Levy to achieve the rebalance for younger people that is desired, the trends to date demonstrate that there is still a significant challenge to encourage employers to increase the numbers of young apprentices.
“Further education providers have a real opportunity to use the launch of the Growth and Skills Levy to increase apprenticeship numbers, though there will need to be a concerted focus on engaging employers and young people with the benefits of apprenticeship programmes to increase take up. From our analysis, 27% of higher apprenticeships were delivered by higher education institutions (HEIs), meaning organisations could expect to lose up to £177,660,000 in income due to the loss of the Apprenticeship Levy.
“As such, the financial sustainability of the higher education sector remains a key issue, and this income loss would be a further financial constraint in addition to the minimal rises to tuition fee. The continued growth of higher apprenticeships could be a real success story offering learning and employment opportunities for individuals and businesses from all backgrounds, rather than being set in competition with provision for younger apprentices. These changes could put some degree apprenticeships at risk, especially for public sector recruitment pipelines, such as nursing.”
She added: “Given the government’s manifesto focused on bringing in new workforces in key areas such as health and social care and construction by adopting new technology, it will be critical that alternative provision is in place for these industries once the level 7 pipeline is turned off. Government has also announced today its commitment to turbocharge AI and implement a long-term compute strategy. Without level 7 apprenticeships, some of those higher level skills needed may be in short supply.
“But, with the economic challenges and limited resources available for government, we expect higher education institutions to already be planning for the loss of the apprenticeship levy for level 7. Working with employers from growth-driving industries, to demonstrate the value of investing in these programmes will be at the forefront of engagement strategies.”

