By Kate Grant CEng MIGEM, Director of Asset Operation at National Grid Electricity Transmission

In the several years that I have worked as an engineer, the profession has consistently faced what at times feels like an existential question about what can be done to develop a skills pipeline that can meet demand. This question has seemed most acute for the country’s energy sector, where the UK’s ambitious targets around transitioning to a low carbon economy will require the sector to both recruit and train for thousands of new roles over the coming years.

Discussions about addressing skills gaps facing the profession often focus on how STEM education can be improved in schools and how to encourage more young people to pursue engineering degrees at university. However, the role of apprenticeships and the positive impact they have on the sector can be overlooked.

Apprentices gain practical, hands-on experience, and the technical know-how and industry-specific competencies needed to excel. By combining this with more formal learning, apprenticeships are a great way of cultivating a pipeline of talent, tailored to the specific needs of an organisation.

In the jobs market, the engineering profession is increasingly finding itself competing for talent with other fields such as finance, consultancy and tech. Apprenticeships can help the engineering profession, and the energy sector in particular, to differentiate themselves by marketing apprenticeships in energy as a way for young people to gain the opportunity to “earn whilst they learn” and to work on meaningful projects that have a positive impact on both society and the planet.

Whilst university can be a transformative opportunity for many young people, it is also an expensive one. For the students beginning their undergraduate degrees in Autumn 2025, a three year undergraduate degree is set to cost almost £30,000 in tuition fees alone. There is enormous opportunity to promote apprenticeships to young people, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds as a potential alternative route to university into rewarding and well-paying careers that can be attained, debt-free, all whilst earning a salary. 

Despite these positives there still remains much work for both industry and policymakers to do for the sector to truly reap the full benefits that apprenticeships can provide. Stats from the Institute for Apprenticeships reveal that whilst women are well represented in apprenticeship starts across the board (52.9% in 2020-21), the figures for apprenticeship starts in STEM related subjects is substantially lower, with just 11.4% of apprenticeship starters in such fields being women.

One of the ways the profession can address this is by highlighting female role models, both current apprentices, as well as more senior women, to challenge pre-conceived notions about engineering being a male dominated field. National Grid commissioned research into career motivations, found that women are more likely than their male counterparts to report that it was important to play a role in the UK’s journey to net zero. This resonates with me, as my desire to work in the energy sector to enable the transition has been a personal motivation throughout my career.  Tapping into this powerful motivator and showcasing to girls and young women that the sector can provide an opportunity for them to build meaningful, purpose-driven careers can be crucial to helping build the diverse and effective workforce, the sector requires to meet its goals over the coming years and decades.

The sector, however, cannot address the wider issues around apprenticeships alone. Government statistics reveal that the number of people starting out on apprenticeships in England has fallen — from 500,000 in 2015 to just 337,000 last year and policies around apprenticeships, need to be reformed to address this. The government must seek to reverse the declining trend in apprenticeship starts, by working in partnership with training providers and employers to maximise appeal and take up. One of the ways this can be addressed is by driving forward reforms to the Growth and Skills Levy (commonly known as the Apprenticeships Levy) to allow greater flexibility for levy spend on linked qualifications, such as pre-apprenticeship training courses and accompanying ‘non-mandatory’ academic qualifications as part of the apprenticeship standard.

National Grid is the heart of the UK's switch to cleaner power, and we need big-thinkers, innovators and builders to lead and support us on this journey. It’s clear that we need a workforce which is representative of society, rather than individuals who all think the same. Apprenticeships have a key role to play inspiring young people to consider jobs and careers in energy and showcase everything they can experience and achieve.