This information is primarily aimed at parents, guardians or carers, to help you inspire the apprentices of tomorrow.

Apprenticeships are designed by employers, so the training reflects the skills, knowledge and behaviours an apprentice will need for a particular occupation. Apprenticeship training is of a high standard and only training providers who are on the register of apprenticeship training providers can deliver the training.

Working as an apprentice means your children earn as they learn. An apprentice works in a real job and spends 20% of their working hours training. So they gain the skills needed for their chosen occupation.

Some apprenticeships include a qualification, including a degree. All of the training is free, so the apprentice has no student debt to worry about.

A school or college leaver can apply for university and an apprenticeship at the same time. They can make their final decision after they’ve had time to consider their options.

To support someone with apprenticeships you can:

• browse our useful resources which can help you support a young person in making career decisions
• find an apprenticeship in your area
• learn about apprentices’ real stories and experiences – for example local employer Mondelez shares some stories about their apprentices here https://www.mondelezinternational.com/Careers/Early-Careers
• visit our inspirational resources for more information and support for parents and carers (https://amazingapprenticeships.com/resources/?parents=1)
• use the National Careers Service for impartial and free advice
• read the Complete Guide to Higher and Degree Apprenticeships
• Use the Apprenticeships Tool on Unifrog to help identify suitable apprenticeships
• Research the Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers (https://tinyurl.com/47ptn9sa)

Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers

This a national league table developed by the Department for Education that recognises England’s leading apprenticeship employers for their commitment to employing apprentices, their creation of new apprenticeships, the diversity of their new apprentices, and the number of apprentices who complete their apprenticeships and progress further with the employer.

This list showcases employers providing some of the country’s most successful apprenticeship opportunities, but also helps future apprentices, parents and career advisers identify opportunities with leading employers. Looking at the list with your child may lead them to thinking about an apprenticeship with an employer they hadn’t considered before.

Together, the Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers employed a total of over 90,000 apprentices in March 2022.

• The largest individual apprenticeship employer was the British Army, which employed more than 15,400 apprentices.
• A further four Top 100 employers had over 2,500 apprentices in their workforces.
• The median number of apprentices employed by a Top 100 employer was 510 apprentices.
• Half of employers had 500 apprentices or fewer and one in six employers had between 25 and 100 apprentices.
• The biggest employers of apprentices were the Armed Forces, professional services firms, retailers, and health & social care employers, which together employed more than 50,000 apprentices.
• There were 28,935 Level 2 apprentices, 30,842 at Level 3, 8,092 at Level 4, 3,209 at Level 5, 7,996 at Level 6 and 11,044 Level 7 apprentices.

And to finish - one of our own students who left school at the end of Year 11 to pursue a Level 3 Apprenticeship in Civil Engineering shares this with you.