The annual Youth Voice Census, conducted by Youth Employment UK and supported by Amazing Apprenticeships is the biggest collection of youth voice in the UK. This year’s survey saw more than 4,270 responses of young people aged 11-30 from across the UK.

The findings from this year’s census provide the sector with crucial insight into the views of young people and their circumstances. Some of the positive messages are that careers information has seen improvements, with young people reporting that they are now hearing about apprenticeships and university education in near equal measures.

Another positive is that is apprentices are doing well, and that they are happy. The data shows that 83.9% of apprentices feel confident that they have made the right choice. 93% are happy they are gaining new skills, 91.3% recognise they are earning and learning at the same time and 91.3% are working with new people. The data also shows that where young people have been able to secure an apprenticeship, in many cases they are receiving wraparound support of their employer and their training provider with 76.4% rating the support received from their employer as good or excellent.

However, we must also look at some of the very concerning messages that this survey has also provided us with. More than half (51%) of young people have reported that they are struggling with anxiety and just over 1 in 10 (12%) of young people believe that they could access high-quality, local opportunities.

What should happen next?

Our work in the apprenticeships sector now really needs to focus on matching the increased interest and demand in apprenticeships with a healthy supply of high-quality, local opportunities for young people to access. On one hand, we have employers saying that they have skills gaps in their workforce and are unable to fill vacancies. On the other hand, we have young people believing that there are no local opportunities to them. This needs to be addressed.

However, it’s not just a simple as matching individuals into vacancies. For many young people, pre-employment support to help to bridge the gap into employment is needed. We need accessible, flexible programmes and support services that will help young people to discover the businesses and opportunities in their local area, to learn how to find and apply for vacancies and to encourage them to demonstrate their talents to future employers. We need to focus on building up their self-belief and motivation so that they will be ready to cope with the demands of full-time work plus the apprenticeship learning on top.

Once in employment, we need to ensure that the support continues by ensuring that employers of all sizes fully understand what it means to be a ‘good youth employer’, and how to access support for this if they need it. We need to address the overall ‘affordability’ of being in employment by looking at travel costs and low salaries, challenging employers to reviews the salaries of young people and provide opportunities for pay rises and promotion. And underpinning all of this, we need further investment in mental health services and support for all young people.

To access the full report, please visit https://www.youthemployment.org.uk/youth-voice-census/

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