At their heart, apprenticeships are real jobs. Apprentices earn a wage while working in your business, alongside structured training and study. They gain practical skills, industry-recognised qualifications, and hands-on experience all while contributing to your organisation from day one.
For individuals, apprenticeships offer an attractive alternative to university. They allow people to start their careers, upskill, or retrain without building up student debt. And that’s no small thing. According to figures from the Student Loans Company (SLC) and the UK Parliament’s House of Commons Library, the average student debt for borrowers in England who finished their course in 2024 was £53,000 when they started repayment in April 2025.
So… with benefits like that, you might reasonably ask: why aren’t more people becoming apprentices? The short answer is plenty want to. The longer answer is that the system hasn’t always made it easy for employers to offer opportunities. Let’s unpack some of the key challenges.
Small and medium-sized businesses often tell us the same thing: apprenticeships sound great… but the process feels daunting.
Since the Apprenticeship Levy was introduced in 2017, SME apprenticeship starts have dropped by 49%, largely because employers find the funding rules rigid and difficult to navigate (Baltic Apprenticeships & GK Strategy: Unleashing Potential Report, 2024).
For busy business owners without dedicated HR or L&D teams, that administrative burden can be a real barrier.
Location matters particularly for younger candidates. Research by Co-op found that 38% of school leavers struggled to find apprenticeship opportunities in their local area.
Meanwhile, three in five (61%) former applicants decided not to pursue an apprenticeship simply because they couldn’t find one in the right location.
(The Sutton Trust: Three in five do not pursue apprenticeships due to lack of availability, July 2023).
Apprenticeship wages are another sticking point, especially in high-cost areas such as London.
Over half (51%) of young people think apprenticeship starting salaries are too low, and there are high dropout rates among those struggling to cover basic living costs.
(Institute for Apprenticeships & Technical Education – Apprentice Decent Wage Pledge).
Despite growing awareness, apprenticeships don’t always enjoy the same status as university routes. A 2022 CIPD study found that 47% of young people were encouraged towards university, while only 20% were actively encouraged to consider apprenticeships.
This suggests that schools and parents may still not be giving young people full or balanced information about all their options (Full V-HR blog).
Ironically, because there are fewer vacancies, apprenticeships have become hugely competitive. One in three young people who apply for an apprenticeship fail to secure one.
In some sectors the odds are even tougher, in the electrical trade, there are reportedly over 200 applications for every single vacancy.
(DART Tool Group: The Apprenticeship Gap 2025).
What’s particularly interesting is that interest in apprenticeships is actually growing. Around 40% of UCAS undergraduate applicants now say they would consider an apprenticeship, yet the number of people starting them has struggled to return to pre-2017 levels (The Sutton Trust, July 2023).
This points to a clear supply-and-demand problem: lots of motivated candidates… but not enough employer opportunities.
The St Martin’s Group explores this in its report Overcoming Barriers to Opportunity; Stimulating Growth and Unlocking Supply in UK Apprenticeships (September 2024).
It highlights how demand from young people and career-changers continues to rise, while apprenticeship places haven’t kept pace.
The result? A classic market imbalance, where enthusiasm is high but supply is restricted by structural barriers.
Rather than suggesting demand needs to be reduced, the report focuses firmly on unlocking employer participation especially among SMEs. It points to issues such as administrative complexity, rigid rules, funding challenges and uncertainty around costs.
Its recommendations include:
• Simplifying the apprenticeship system
• Introducing more flexibility in programme design
• Offering targeted incentives for smaller firms
• Better aligning levy funding with training needs
• Widening access for disadvantaged learners
In economic terms, the message is clear: the apprenticeship market isn’t short of willing candidates – it’s being held back by process and policy.
Apprenticeships can help you:
• Build a loyal talent pipeline
• Close skills gaps
• Grow your own future leaders
• Bring fresh thinking into your business
• Improve retention
• Support social mobility in your local community
And with the right advice and training provider, the system doesn’t have to feel overwhelming.
The St Martin’s Group report makes one thing very clear: the issue isn’t a lack of interest in apprenticeships, demand is already strong. The real challenge lies in enabling employers, particularly SMEs, to offer more opportunities. With simpler processes, better-aligned funding, practical incentives and the right support, apprenticeships could play an even bigger role in developing the UK’s workforce.
If National Apprenticeship Week gets even a few businesses thinking about whether an apprentice could work in their organisation, then that’s a win in our book.
If you’d like to talk through whether apprenticeships could work for your business or how to get started, get in touch here – we’re always happy to help.
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