Can you elaborate on what advertising apprenticeships alongside degrees on UCAS means, and why is it considered a significant development in the field of further education and employment?
People searching on ucas.com will now be able to see relevant undergraduate courses and relevant apprenticeship opportunities alongside each other, allowing students to explore all their options in the same place and see multiple routes to achieve an end goal. We believe this also highlights to students that there are multiple further education routes to specific careers, which are accessible via apprenticeships.
For employers, they can list their apprenticeship vacancies for free and reach a wide range of engaged students considering their options. UCAS, being the most utilised search engine for education information in the UK, enables employers to get their opportunities in front of thousands of young people at the exact moment they are making decisions about their next steps.
How do you anticipate this initiative will impact the recruitment landscape, both for students seeking opportunities and for companies providing apprenticeships?
Our new service allows students to access a full range of education opportunities with ease. Previously, they had to research and dig through multiple sites to find apprenticeship opportunities, but now they can log into their UCAS Hub account and search for an apprenticeship efficiently. Unlike traditional undergraduate degrees, apprenticeship opportunities are available throughout the year. On the UCAS Hub, students can research year-round and receive notifications when employers are hiring with their vacancies, with vacancies updated in real time.
UCAS, being the most utilised search engine for education information in the UK, enables employers to get their opportunities in front of thousands of young people.
We anticipate an increase in demand for opportunities from students, which will, of course, necessitate progress in increasing the supply of opportunities from employers. Employers advertising their vacancies in this way will reach previously untapped audiences and benefit from engaged applicants from a wide variety of backgrounds.
As part of our ‘Journey to a Million’ forecasts, with an anticipated growth in the 18-year-old population by the end of the decade, employers will have a real opportunity to tap into a pool of individuals that will help fill existing and future skills gaps.
In your view, will this initiative go a long way in improving or strengthening the parity of esteem between apprenticeships and traditional degree programs, and if so, how?
At UCAS, we aim to create parity of esteem between higher and further education pathways. For too long, apprenticeships have been seen as something for those who are not academic, not capable of university, or for those that don’t have the means to attend university. Previously, they have been perceived as a second-class option, which is absolutely not the case. Apprenticeships are highly aspirational, incredibly challenging, and provide a real opportunity for young people to get a springboard into a future career. This development is a crucial step in creating parity, and UCAS is perfectly placed to help break down the stigma with young people, teachers, parents, and carers, by showing apprenticeships as a true and genuine pathway alongside the trusted and traditional pathway of UK higher education.
Looking ahead, where do you envision UCAS's vocational offerings in ten years? What broader transformations or trends do you foresee in the landscape of vocational education and apprenticeships?
UCAS is already well on its journey to becoming a discovery brand for young people exploring their next steps, serving as a one-stop-shop for educational considerations. We are formulating our strategy to guide us through to the end of the decade. What we know is that apprenticeships, vocational, technical, and lifelong learning will be core to that strategy. Enabling individuals to make informed choices and to apply simply will be central to the work we do.