ISE’s Student Development survey 2025 explains how employers are using apprenticeships and their views on the government’s plans to reform the system.
This year’s ISE Student Development Survey 2025 gathered detailed insights from 148 employers across a range of sectors and organisation types to understand how employers are structuring, delivering, and improving their early career development programmes.
During the survey period, the UK government announced significant reforms to the apprenticeship system aimed at boosting economic growth and addressing skills shortages in critical sectors.
A key change is the reduction of the minimum apprenticeship duration from 12 months to 8 months, allowing for faster qualification of apprentices. Additionally, for apprentices aged 19 and over, employers now have the discretion to decide whether a Level 2 English and maths qualification is necessary for completion, potentially enabling up to 10,000 more apprentices to qualify annually.
BPP set out the implications for employers in their ISE article.
How do employers view the reforms?
Considering the upcoming changes to the UK apprenticeship regime, 34% of respondents reported that they were still awaiting more clarity or not sure about the UK apprenticeship. This uncertainty was reflected in their views on future requirements. More than half of employers (55%) remained neutral on increasing apprenticeship-aligned roles.
However, around a quarter (26%) of employers reported that they were broadly supportive with some concerns. The sectors that were most supportive were Retail, FMCG & Tourism sector (50%) and Built Environment sector (50%).
Only 11% of respondents in the Legal sector reported they were broadly supportive and 47% of them reported they were highly unsupportive.
The proposed funding changes to Level 7 apprenticeships may be a contributing factor. If implemented, these changes could result in some Level 7 apprenticeships no longer being funded through the Growth and Skills Levy. These changes would require employers to self-fund these indicate. Consequently, the legal sector in particular views these funding reforms as a step backward in efforts to diversify the profession.
How are employers currently using the levy?
This year respondents reported that they were spending on average 42% of their apprenticeship levy which is similar to last year (41%).
When comparing their 2024 apprenticeship levy spending to the previous year, 46% of respondents reported that their spending remained about the same, while 30% noted an increase, and only 5% reported a decrease. Additionally, 8% of respondents indicated that they did not utilise the apprenticeship levy, and 12% were unsure about their levy usage.
This broadly follows national apprenticeship figures which reported a 0.7% increase in the number of apprentices starting between 2022/2023 and 2023/2024.
The percentage of the levy that was spent differed between sectors, reflecting the different sectoral histories of engagement with apprenticeships. The sector that used most of the apprenticeship levy was the Built Environment which spent 60% of the levy, whereas the Legal sector and Retail, FMCG & Tourism sector spent 20% of the levy respectively.
In our sample, a significant proportion (88%) of organisations are using the levy to offer apprenticeship programmes for school and college leavers.
Additionally, nearly two-third of organisations provide apprenticeship programmes for graduates (64%) and existing hires (61%) but only 30% of organisations extend these programmes to newly recruited experienced hires.
The apprenticeship programmes delivered were at a range of different levels with Level 3 and Level 4 being the most predominant ones for school and college leavers, whereas Level 7 was the most predominant one for graduates and existing hires.
What type of hire is enrolled on apprenticeships?
In 2024, the average apprenticeship enrolment rate for school and college leavers, as well as other non-graduate entry-level starters, was 84%. This represents a 17% increase compared to the previous year (67%).
Engagement with apprenticeships varied across sectors. All school and college leavers hired by the Legal, Health & Pharmaceuticals, and Built Environment sectors were enrolled in an apprenticeship. In contrast, only 62% of school and college leavers in the Retail, FMCG & Tourism sector were enrolled.
Similar to last year, this was less common with only 16% of graduates enrolled in an apprenticeship, but this varied across sectors with 90% of graduates in the Health & Pharmaceuticals sector on an apprenticeship scheme, compared to 1% of graduates within the Digital & IT and Charity & Public sectors respectively.
For alternative hires, such as ex-military, career-changers, and ex-offenders, respondents reported that 16% of these hires were enrolled on apprenticeship programmes.
Get more sector breakdown on apprenticeships as well as data on graduate programmes in ISE’s Student Development Survey 2025.