Vocational pathways

Introduction

This section provides resources for "making the case" for careers related to technical and vocational education and career pathways, referring to both challenges that careers services can tackle and evidence that such services work.

Research data has emerged from various sources (e.g. CEC, 2023) which have measured the growing awareness and appeal of technical and vocational pathways amongst students.. However, the research on the careers support for people throughout their apprenticeships, or beyond their apprenticeships, is less frequent. In European studies, coaching and guidance has been part of a battery of interventions used to support apprentices and drive improvements in drop out rates from education, so there are sometimes blurred boundaries between "pure" career guidance and other forms of support. 

This page provides references to the landscape in which CEIAG operates, case studies of practices (including the application of theory), as well as links to research-active institutions, relevant publications, and data sources.

The case for careers

The academic literature and many other publications have cited the importance of careers interventions for this age group. Amongst the common drivers are:

• Successful apprenticeships are needed to fulfil future labour market needs in the UK (e.g. CEBR, 2013) and wider afield (e.g. McKinsey, 2021)

• Vocational education has been proposed as a key lever for social mobility, and means to mitigate NEET status (e.g. Crawfood-Lee and Moorwood, S. (2019))

• Without career guidance, students from less well off backgrounds are left to rely more on ad-hoc parental referrals to secure apprenticeships (Flohr, 2023)

• Apprenticeships can he heavily male skewed in certain professions and industries, but career guidance professionals can play a role in tackling barrier (Simon, 2014)

• Whereas 4 in 10 parents/carers are confident of helping their children make UCAS applications, only 1 in 10 were confident with apprenticeships (though 7 in 10 would recommend one to their child) in a study in Hertfordshire. (Amazing Apprenticeships, 2023)

• Across the UK, a 2023 UCAS survey found students are not receiving the information they need to make informed decisions about apprenticeship routes (Milson, 2023), echoing Ofsted’s (2023) findings that there is a shortfall in apprentice support. Research has previously shown a frequent mismatch of apprentices’ experiences with their prior expectations (e.g. Radermarcher, 2013)

• Once into apprenticeships, there are some gaps in support, with 68% of apprentices said that they knew how to find information about future training or qualifications and just over half (52%) were considering future training for a path other than they are on (Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education, 2022)

• The perception is that too many students drop out of apprenticeships. Research suggests that some of these causes are related to student anxieties and career capabilities, which could be tackled earlier (Powers and Watt, 2022)

• Early-leaving from apprenticeship schemes is associated with risk factors such as unemployment, poverty, health problems and social exclusion (Cedefop, 2016)

• Retrospective analysis of vocational education and training in Europe from 1995 shows this to be a system in constant flux, with “small daily steps”, suggesting the ongoing need to equip candidates with up to date career information. (Cedefop, 2023)

• Today’s apprenticeships are already an important contributor to UK society and economy. For instance, in their annual impact report for 2023, City & Guilds reported having worked with 3.5m global learners and delivering nearly £12bn to the UK economy.

• The Department for Education’s ‘Apprenticeship Evaluation 2021’ report indicated that the trends in more apprenticeships are suggesting a move towards higher skills, thus meeting future labour market needs. (DfE, 2022)

• Apprenticeships are becoming more important in international policy (Vanderhoven, 2023)

• Early insights into the experiences of students on the new T-levels in the UK show high levels of satisfaction but some challenges too, with disadvantaged and female students more likely to drop out (e.g. UCAS, 2024, DfE, 2024). 

Career guidance has demonstrated it can add value to support the maintenance and growth of vocational and technical education.

• In the UK, there has been strong recent growth in the uptake of apprenticeships with career advisers and teachers playing a key role in disseminating information. Despite the relative lack of confidence amongst educators discussing vocational pathways, a study in Hertfordshire found that 90% of teachers are discussing apprenticeships with students..(Amazing Apprenticeships, 2023)

• Over the period where more interventions were implemented in European systems to tackle early leavers (including guidance and coaching), leaving rates nearly halved from 17% in 2002 to 9.9% in 2020 (Psifdou et al, 2022)

• The effect of career support is manifest in the early success of T-levels, which has required education in entire new set of career pathways: In 2025, the second cohort of T-level destinations was analysed by Gatsby (2025), producing positive results:  From a survey of 1,212 students across 9 T-levels, 574 students progressed to higher education (47% of the overall  sample), 341 students to employment (28%) and 133 students progressed to  an apprenticeship (11%). 164 students (14%) progressed to another destination, which included gap years, further education courses and students looking for work or an apprenticeship.

NB: Please also see Secondary Education sources for general careers support for awareness-building, including towards apprenticeship pathways.

The CDI also have extensive recent resources on Technical and Vocational pathways.