Why Degree Apprenticeships Aren't Working for Black Heritage Students

Written by Andrea Sotelo, Senior Marketing Officer

National Apprenticeship Week typically brings a wave of celebration. The narrative around degree apprenticeships has become one of democratisation, a genuine alternative to university that bypasses debt while delivering career-ready skills. For Black-heritage students, though, the promise of apprenticeships often falls short.

Since 2017, degree apprenticeships have grown four-fold, with Level 6 and 7 programmes now representing 17.1% of all apprenticeship starts. These premium pathways lead directly into six-figure careers in engineering, finance, digital technology.

Scratch beneath the surface, though, and the numbers tell a more complex story. Only 10.7% of degree apprentices aged 18–24 come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, lower than Russell Group universities at 11.4%. The alternative route has quietly become less accessible than the traditional one.

When Opportunity Looks Like Exclusion

The gap widens at the highest levels. Level 7 apprenticeships (Master's equivalents) saw a 40.7% increase last year. Growth like this should be celebrated, except much of it flows toward those who already have networks, who already know how to navigate corporate recruitment.

For Black-heritage students, the barriers compound. The earn-while-you-learn model assumes that apprentice wages are supplementary income. For families where every pound counts, that assumption breaks down fast. Low wages force many apprentices to take second jobs, making it difficult to balance work and coursework. The result is exhaustion: apprentices describing their placements as draining, going home too tired to eat.

Then there are the cultural frictions. Workplace environments built around pub culture and informal networking create invisible walls. When you're the only Black face in the room, when there are no senior role models who look like you, when feedback comes coded in language that feels designed to exclude, the sense of alienation compounds.

The data reflects this. Black apprentices have a completion rate of 53.9%, compared to 61.3% for White peers. That 7.4% gap represents thousands of young people with potential who didn't make it through a system that wasn't built with them in mind.

What Actually Helps

Organisations serious about expanding their talent pipelines need to move past rhetoric and into action. Contextual recruitment that recognises resilience over exam scores alone opens doors that traditional hiring keeps closed. But getting through the door means little without financial support that goes beyond minimum wage; apprentices juggling family responsibilities need stability, not survival mode. And even stability isn't enough if you're navigating those early years alone. Mentorship programmes that pair apprentices with senior professionals who understand what it means to be the only one create pathways where dead ends once existed.

Companies that get this right will track outcomes, not just inputs. They'll measure completion rates by demographic, monitor progression into leadership, and publish their data with accountability timelines attached. They'll understand that diversity at entry level means little if it evaporates by mid-career.

Black heritage talent represents an untapped reservoir of potential. The competitive advantage belongs to businesses that figure out how to close these gaps, genuinely, structurally, building talent pipelines their competitors can't match.

National Apprenticeship Week offers a moment to look honestly at who these pathways serve. The infrastructure exists. The opportunities are real. What remains is the harder work of ensuring they're genuinely accessible, not just in theory, but in the lived experience of the young people navigating them.

The silence around these disparities doesn't have to be permanent. Sometimes all it takes is the decision to listen differently, measure honestly, and act accordingly.

Sources:

• Apprenticeships, Academic year 2023/24 — GOV.UK

• Degree apprenticeships less accessible to disadvantaged young people — FE Week

• Youth degree apprenticeships — Education Policy Institute

• Ethnic disparities and apprenticeship participation — Youth Futures Foundation / NatCen

• Apprenticeship achievement rates 2023-24 — FE Week

• Apprenticeship pathways into engineering 2024/25 — EngineeringUK

• Where are my Black professors? — Wellcome Open Research

• The pipeline for Black Economists — Royal Economic Society

• Equality of access and outcomes in higher education — House of Commons Library

• Levels of Success: UK apprenticeships — The Sutton Trust