Why careers advice alone won’t increase the number of young apprentices
Richard Spear, Managing Director ACT
By Richard Spear
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve heard people blaming a lack of careers advice for the relatively low uptake of apprenticeships among school leavers.
The real barriers run deeper; a combination of unclear policy aims, limited opportunities, negative perceptions and patchy careers education. I’ve seen first-hand how much good careers information, advice and guidance can achieve, but it can’t create opportunities that don’t exist. We need an effective strategy to tackle the challenges set out below.
No clear aspirations
Despite the emphasis on apprenticeships across numerous Welsh Government strategies, only 1.6% of Year 11 leavers and 2.9% of Year 13 leavers in Wales go straight into an apprenticeship. These figures seem low, but there are no specific targets or stated aspirations to judge this performance against. In contrast, countries with strong youth apprenticeship systems set explicit goals; not to impose quotas but to signal intent. Wales cannot plan or resource effectively without first deciding what success looks like.
Lack of opportunities
If we wanted to increase the number of school leavers entering an apprenticeship, we would need thousands of appropriate (i.e. apprenticeship) job opportunities to be secured every summer.
For many employers, particularly SMEs, taking on a 16–18-year-old apprentice represents a real commitment – the additional supervision, training time and safeguarding responsibilities add cost and risk.
The lack of appropriate employment opportunities is highlighted by Careers Wales data. Each year, 13–14% of Year 10 pupils say they want an apprenticeship through the ‘Career Check’ tool. Yet, as we know, only about 1.6% start one after Year 11. That drop can only be explained by barriers and a lack of opportunities.
Perceptions
Apprenticeships are still often seen as a ‘second choice’ to A-levels or university especially by parents and teachers. In stark contrast, in countries like Germany or Switzerland, vocational routes enjoy equal prestige because they’re well integrated into respected professions.
Low participation creates its own barrier. It establishes a social norm that suggests following a different pathway means standing out. Not many young people (or adults) are comfortable doing that. Social identity and belonging matter, young people often make decisions based on what others like them are doing, not purely on a rational evaluation of options.
Higher apprenticeships could play a crucial role in reshaping perceptions, particularly if introduced for the teaching profession. They offer a genuine alternative to full-time higher education, combining skilled employment with advanced qualifications.
Careers education squeezed out of the curriculum
Careers education is the planned, progressive learning within the school curriculum that develops students’ knowledge, skills and attitudes to manage their careers throughout life. It is embedded across the Curriculum for Wales (3–16) through the Careers and Work-Related Experiences (CWRE) framework. It is delivered by teachers and each school designs its own CWRE approach.
Wales’s CWRE framework is ambitious in theory but is crowded out by other pressures. It is statutory, yet it isn’t examined, funded or meaningfully inspected. Schools are judged on GCSE and A-level results, not on how well they prepare young people for work, so CWRE is often squeezed out.
In England, the Gatsby Benchmarks give every school a clear definition of what good careers education looks like; linking subjects to real jobs, ensuring multiple encounters with employers, and tracking outcomes through destinations data. Ofsted specifically inspects the ‘personal development’ strand, which explicitly includes careers education, work-related learning and destinations data.
Scotland shows what happens when destinations matter. Since 2010, every Scottish school has been tracked on the proportion of pupils in a ‘positive destination’ after leaving. This data is public, built into inspection and influences local funding decisions. Over time, the approach has resulted in more consistent transitions and rising youth apprenticeship participation.
Potential solutions
So, how could we increase the number of young apprentices?
- Clarify ambitions: Set clear, evidence-based goals, not arbitrary targets but ambitions specific enough to drive action and investment.
- Incentivise employers: Introduce well-targeted incentives focused on SMEs recruiting 16-to-18-year-old apprentices as they leave full-time education.
- Encourage public sector: The Welsh Government should use conditions of funding to ensure that every NHS trust, local authority and sponsored body offers structured apprenticeship opportunities for young people as part of their workforce planning.
- Targeted awareness campaigns: Wales needs distinct, sustained campaigns not generic marketing targeted at employers, parents, schools and young people.
- School performance measures: Stop pressurising schools to focus narrowly on qualification attainment and introduce destination data as a key measure of school performance.
Careers guidance can’t fix a system that doesn’t create enough opportunities. Right now, young people don’t need more guidance they need more great apprenticeship jobs to be guided into.
Expanding apprenticeships means investing in opportunity through clear ambition, sustained funding and a system that values where young people go, not just what grades they get.
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