Apprenticeships & pay: new IDS/unionlearn survey

Apprenticeships & pay: new IDS/unionlearn survey

The survey, which contains the most comprehensive information on apprenticeship pay, retention and training to date, commissioned by unionlearn and carried out by Incomes Data Services found that salary levels ranged considerably by apprenticeship, subject area and year/stage. It showed:

Across all years and subjects the average gross salary was £12,634.

45 per cent of salaries were between £10,001 and £15,000.

The average private sector salary was £13,351.

The average public sector was £11,433.

There is a correlation between size of employer and pay, however salaries in the smallest private sector firms are only 3% below the all sector/all year annual salary.

Subjects with the highest pay had the highest retention rates, post-training.

The survey showed a higher concentration of female apprenticeships in the lower-paying sectors, such as hairdressing and social care. In Extractive and Mineral Processing Occupations where the average salary was £17,609, no female apprentices were recorded.

On average, contracted apprenticeship hours were 36.8 per week, actual hours worked were 34.3 hours with 7.3 hours spent in off-the-job training. Contracted working hours ranged from a maximum of 39.3 hours in Arts, Media & Publishing, down to an average of 35.3 hours per week in Retail and Commercial Enterprises.

When employers were asked why they employed apprentices:

98% agreed that they recruited apprentices to train the workforce of the future.

85% said apprentice schemes provided value for money.

32.9% said they employed apprentices because they received funding to do so.

When employers were asked why they do not employ apprentices:

40.9% said they prefer to recruit fully-trained staff.

34.1% agreed that a lack of funding was the reason they did not employ apprentices.

27.3% said they did not employ apprentices because they did not know how to do so.

Tom Wilson, director of unionlearn, said: 'This is the most comprehensive survey of apprenticeship pay, but it is only a start. It is imperative that the government carries out an annual survey on this subject. What the IDS survey shows, and this was borne out at this week's National Apprenticeship Awards, is that the most successful apprenticeships are those in the companies which are unionised and provide high quality schemes with good pay and conditions. However, too many employers are not doing enough to provide and fund apprenticeship places.'

Abigail Morris, policy adviser, British Chamber of Commerce, said there was a lot of goodwill among businesses towards apprenticeships. But, according to interim results of a survey of 7,000 employers by her organisation, a third said they have no plans to take on an apprentice this year.

The full report can obtained at http://www.unionlearn.org.uk/files/publications/documents/216.pdf

NOTES TO EDITORS:

The survey was sent out online to more than 7,000 employers, with 289 usable responses (a 4% response rate); plus 10 in-depth telephone interviews. 54% private sector employers, 43% public sector, 3% Apprenticeship Training Agencies. There was a bias towards medium to large employers - the median number of apprentices employed was 10 - and a good regional spread. It was carried out in the autumn and winter of 2010.

The survey was co-sponsored by unionlearn, the TUC's training and skills organisation, and the CWU, UCATT and USDAW unions.

The Government's spending review announced funding for an extra 75,000 apprenticeship places.

All unionlearn press releases can be found at http://www.unionlearn.org.uk/

Media enquiries:
Frances Rafferty T: 020 7079 6950 M: 07827 813439 E: frafferty@tuc.org.uk
James Asser T: 020 7079 6942 M: 07769 706104 E: jasser@tuc.org.uk

Source: TUC