The talent shortage in Britain’s trade sectors is getting worse. While job demand surges across construction, the apprenticeship system that should be feeding these trades is failing to deliver.
But this isn’t solely a recruitment challenge; it’s a full breakdown in the skilled worker pipeline, and for trade businesses, the risks are immediate and serious.
This report examines the latest apprenticeship data to reveal where the crisis is most acute, why traditional training pathways are struggling, and what strategic steps employers can take to support their future workforce - from investing in quality training to ensuring apprentices have the right tools in hand.
Quick Summary from DART Tool Group’s Apprenticeship Gap Report:
DART Tool Group’s ‘Apprenticeship Gap Report’ analysed apprenticeship and job vacancy data to calculate the scale of talent shortage across UK trade sectors.
Across all trades, it revealed that 106 jobs are competing for every apprenticeship opening, suggesting demand is far outpacing training supply.
The electrical sector is under the most pressure, with 227 vacancies for each apprenticeship role.
Beyond the numbers, the report reinforces that tackling the skills gap requires both stronger apprenticeship pathways and trusted tools that allow apprentices and skilled teams to perform with confidence on-site.
The UK’s trade economy is running on an increasingly fragile pipeline. On one side, demand for skilled workers is accelerating faster than ever before, driven largely by infrastructure growth and the push for digital transformation.
In the first quarter of 2025, ONS data revealed vacancies across the construction, manufacturing, and electricity industries already exceeded 100,000, with the construction sector alone experiencing a 16% year-on-year increase.
But with skilled trades, including bricklaying, plumbing, and roofing, accounting for 10% of England’s workforce, this shortage is directly translating into delayed projects, inflated labour costs, and missed opportunities for businesses nationwide on the other hand.
The government’s housing pledge illustrates the scale of what’s at stake. Delivering 1.5 million new homes by 2030 will require an estimated 140,000 extra construction workers every year for the next five years. Yet the apprenticeship system that typically supplies this talent is producing fewer qualified tradespeople year on year.
And the recruitment challenge is only set to intensify in the coming decade, as research suggests that by 2035, one-third of the current construction workforce will have retired.
Government investment, including £600m to create up to 60,000 more engineers, bricklayers, electricians, and joiners by 2029, is a welcome step in the right direction, but investment alone cannot tackle the skills shortage.
Without a stronger, more effective apprenticeship system and active encouragement and promotion of trade industry jobs, the widening skills gap will put growth and productivity across industries at severe risk.
To truly understand the state of workforce opportunities across key UK trade industries, the team at DART collected and analysed apprenticeship and job vacancy data across construction, engineering, manufacturing, plumbing, and electrical trades.
By combining historic apprenticeship starts and completions data, with current live placement opportunities and job vacancies, the ‘Apprenticeship Gap Report’ calculated:
Absolute deficit: The number of job openings minus available apprenticeship places, showing the scale of unmet demand.
Jobs per Apprenticeships: The ratio of job vacancies for every one apprenticeship place available.
The findings highlight the mounting pressure on training pipelines, providing a clear picture of where the system is breaking down and which sectors face the greatest talent shortages.
Across all trades, there are just 809 apprenticeship openings to fill 86,047 current job vacancies, a ratio of 106 jobs competing for every single apprenticeship place.
The electrical trade faces the most severe crisis, with 227 job openings for every apprenticeship place. Engineering follows at 145:1, representing a gap of nearly 46,000 unfilled positions.
Even manufacturing, with the smallest deficit out of all the industries analysed, still has 20 full-time jobs competing for every apprenticeship opening. Taken together, these figures reflect more than just recruitment challenges, but also where project timelines are most at risk and which sectors are facing the greatest strain.
Apprenticeship Deficit by Trade
A regional analysis further reveals the deficit is not evenly distributed across Britain. Scotland faces the toughest electrical skills shortage, with 150 jobs per apprentice opening, compared to England’s 138.
Wales has a particularly severe engineering deficit at 173:1, while surprisingly offering the most balanced electrical market. These regional variations highlight clear hotspots of pressure where trade projects are most at risk of slowing down.
Jobs per Apprenticeship Opening, by region and trade
The data paints a stark picture of widening gaps between apprenticeship output and labour demand in the construction sector. Property Maintenance specialists are by far the worst hit, with almost 80 jobs for every single apprentice completer, furthered by just a 16% apprenticeship completion rate. Apprenticeship starts have also declined by 4.3% year-on-year, and by 3.3% since 2021/2022.
Similarly, Plant Operator roles face a 73:1 deficit, even as starts edged up by 6%. This comes as less than half of the starts succeeded in achieving the apprenticeship in the 2024/2025 intake.
More traditional trades that underpin the housing industry, such as Carpentry, Bricklaying, and Groundwork, are also under notable strain. Carpentry is facing a 20:1 gap, with starts down nearly a third, while Bricklaying has seen the sharpest fall in new entrants since 2021(down 42%).
Some specialist trades, like Roofing and Scaffolding, have slightly healthier completion rates, but still face apprenticeship gap ratios of 7:1 and 8:1, respectively.
Meanwhile, Painting and Decorating is struggling to attract fresh entrants at all, with starts collapsing by a third. With the government’s ambitious new homes target, demand for Painting and Decorating is set to surge over the next five years. With apprenticeship starts in steep decline, the subsector risks being unprepared to meet growth, risking bottlenecks in residential projects if training pipelines are not strengthened.
Top Construction Apprenticeships, by Deficit
Within the engineering sector, every specialist role is experiencing strong demand for labour. The greatest shortage is in Engineering Maintenance, with nearly 550 job openings for each apprentice who completes their training, and only a 34% apprenticeship completion rate for the 2024/2025 intake. Despite this, apprenticeship starts have risen by 1.5% year-on-year and by 37.7% since 2021/2022.
Similarly, Mechanical Engineering roles face a steep 488:1 deficit in its training pipeline, and have seen an 18% drop in apprenticeship starts. Nevertheless, more than half (56%) of the 2024/2025 intake successfully completed the programme, highlighting the continued interest in the trade.
Certain specialist trades, such as Fitters and Building Services Engineers, show lower labour demand, with 73 and 47 job openings per apprenticeship completions, respectively. However, continued low completion rates mean these roles still face significant labour shortages.
Top Engineering Apprenticeships, by Deficit
Out of all sectors analysed, the electrical sector is facing the most severe skills bottleneck, with apprenticeship completion rates falling far short of labour demand.
Electrical Building Services and Engineering roles are under the most pressure, with nearly 300 jobs for every qualified apprentice. Although apprenticeship starts have grown 35% since 2021/2022, low completion rates mean the surge in interest has not yet converted into the skilled workforce needed, leaving a persistent gap between demand and supply.
Other electrical roles paint a more concerning picture for the sector. While broadly defined Electrician positions have fewer jobs per apprentice opening (63:1), starts overall have dropped 16% year-on-year, coupled with persistently low completion rates. This combination indicates that, without targeted prevention to strengthen apprenticeship pathways, the labour shortfall is likely to widen.
Top Electrical Apprenticeships, by Deficit
The plumbing and heating sector is experiencing strong demand, particularly for Refrigeration Engineers and Plumbers, though both roles have faced shrinking apprenticeship intakes year-on-year and since 2021/2022.
Refrigeration Engineers, who require a broad technical skillset, are in high demand with 150 job openings for every qualified apprentice. While starts are down 17% year-on-year and completion rates sit at just 21%, the trade remains critical to infrastructure and climate-focused projects, highlighting an opportunity for support to turn interest into qualified talent.
Plumbers, on the other hand, face a smaller labour gap at 30:1, yet starts have fallen 37% since 2021/2022. This is more concerning when looking ahead, as the sector is expected to need 41,600 new plumbers by 2033 to meet both Net Zero and housebuilding targets.
With a modest annual employment growth of 2.4%, this reinforces the urgency to make trade roles more attractive to new entrants, especially amid tougher competition from other career pathways.
Top Plumbing and Heating Apprenticeships, by Deficit
Manufacturing demonstrated a relatively balanced skills pipeline compared with other sectors, averaging 20 job openings per apprentice across its trade roles.
Fabricators face the largest talent deficit, with 71 job openings per apprentice. However, a 100% completion rate in 2024/2025, the highest in the manufacturing sector, indicates a strong talent pipeline for those entering the trade.
In contrast, Manufacturing Technician and Manufacturing Engineering apprenticeships saw the highest growth in starts, rising by 8.8% and 10.8% year-on-year, respectively. Despite this, both trades also recorded the lowest completion rates (34% and 32% respectively), suggesting that while these roles attract new entrants, retention remains a major challenge, which is contributing to widening talent shortages.
Other notable trades include Heavy Vehicle Technicians and Welders, which maintain moderate talent gap ratios but continue to experience declines in apprenticeship starts.
Top Manufacturing Apprenticeships, by Deficit
Fewer than a third of apprentices starting go on to complete their programmes, creating a costly and inefficient training pipeline. While recruiting new apprentices is important, the real priority lies in ensuring that those who start actually finish.
With at least 347,000 completed construction apprenticeships needed by 2033 to meet targets and maintain growth, historic completion rates suggest around 700,000 people would need to start these programmes, a clear indication that urgent action is needed to improve retention.
Our data indicates that across all six trades, less than half of apprentices completed their programmes on average in 2024/2025, a notable drop compared with previous years when at least one trade annually surpassed a 50% completion rate.
However, the exceptionally high completion rate in 2022/2023 for the electrical sector, likely driven by rising demand to support the Net Zero transition, shows that targeted demand can boost retention.
Average apprenticeship completion rates across industries and top roles
Apprenticeship shortages aren’t just concerning numbers. When apprentices fail to complete their training, the pipeline of skilled workers shrinks and leaves trades exposed to critical talent gaps, putting both productivity and profitability on the line.
Closing this gap demands smarter workforce planning, improved training structures, and practical on-the-job tools that help apprentices not just start, but finish. By turning talent investment into tangible skills on-site, employers can secure their training pipelines and drive resilience across the trade.
Bridging the apprenticeship gap calls for proactive, practical solutions such as:
- Partnering with local colleges and training providers
Introduce young people to sites earlier by working with colleges, sixth forms, and training providers. Early exposure to live projects can spark interest, build practical understanding, and position trade careers as a credible alternative to university pathways. Challenge misconceptions of trade roles
Showcase how rewarding trade careers can be, especially in developing long-term growth, specialist skills. Break down myths and outdated stereotypes about manual labour, pay, or dead-end roles by highlighting real progression opportunities from apprentice to site lead.- Offer flexible, on-site learning
Blend training with production work, letting apprentices practice welding, plumbing, or concreting on real jobs under supervision. This keeps projects on track while giving apprentices meaningful experience and a sense of impact. Provide apprentices with professional-grade tools
Enhance learning, efficiency, and safety on-site by equipping apprentices with the right tools early on. Investing in high-quality tools also sends a clear signal that apprentices are valued, trusted, and supported from day one.
Tim Balcon, CEO, Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) said:
“This report demonstrates that, at present, there aren’t clear enough pathways to translate people’s training into jobs. The core issue isn’t that we’re not training enough people – around 130,000 people start some form of construction training that will lead to a qualification every year across Britain.
“However, about 40,000 of these people will secure employment in the industry after completing their training. Some will progress onto higher level apprenticeships or other forms of construction training, but many don’t enter the industry at all. Better retention of trainees and current workers in construction can significantly reduce the skills shortage.
“Addressing the skills gap requires large-scale collaboration. As part of the Government’s £600m construction skills package, we provided £32m investment to deliver increased industry placements. Similarly, we’re collaborating with the Construction Skills Mission Board to strategically coordinate national and local programmes and initiatives to address workforce needs, engage more SMEs and micro employers to invest in skills, and ensure clear pathways into construction.”
With the proper kit, apprentices can focus on mastering the technical elements of their trade, measuring, drilling, and setting out, without slowing projects down with inefficient or hard-to-work equipment.
Professional-grade tools, like SDS drill bits, auger bits, and premium accessories, are designed for compatibility and optimal performance, allowing apprentices to work across a wide range of materials with precision. This not only accelerates their own skills development but also maintains safety and efficiency during practical training.
Trade professionals can also draw on the PROclub community for resources, specialist training, and practical guidance on using tools effectively, helping apprentices and mentors work more efficiently and confidently on-site.
Breaking into a trade can feel daunting, but with the right approach, it can soon turn interest into a successful career. Here are some practical tips to help navigate doing a trade apprenticeship:
Explore opportunities early
When considering an apprenticeship, check what on-site support and equipment you’ll have access to. Research the company’s recent projects and mention specific work that interests you, as site managers will notice applicants who understand what the business actually does.Use reputable job portals
Many apprentices start their search on platforms like GOV.UK, Not Going to Uni, and sector-specific job boards like Go Construct. Keeping an eye on these sources increases the likelihood of finding quality placements.Build industry connections
Get involved with industry communities, trade groups, and open day experiences for networking, practical advice, and help for deciding which trade is right for you and what day-to-day skills are required.
Using the Department for Education’s official statistics for 2021/2022 to 2024/2025, DART Tool Group examined apprenticeship starts, enrolments, and achievements across Construction, Planning and the Built Environment, and Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies sectors.
Live apprenticeship openings were captured from official government portals across regions, analysing a total of 809 apprenticeship roles. Job vacancy data was sourced from Reed and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to calculate demand across each sector, highlighting the number of roles currently unfilled and regional variations in labour shortages.
The talent shortage in Britain’s trade sectors is getting worse. While job demand surges across construction, the apprenticeship system that should be feeding these trades is failing to deliver.
But this isn’t solely a recruitment challenge; it’s a full breakdown in the skilled worker pipeline, and for trade businesses, the risks are immediate and serious.
This report examines the latest apprenticeship data to reveal where the crisis is most acute, why traditional training pathways are struggling, and what strategic steps employers can take to support their future workforce - from investing in quality training to ensuring apprentices have the right tools in hand.
Quick Summary from DART Tool Group’s Apprenticeship Gap Report:
DART Tool Group’s ‘Apprenticeship Gap Report’ analysed apprenticeship and job vacancy data to calculate the scale of talent shortage across UK trade sectors.
Across all trades, it revealed that 106 jobs are competing for every apprenticeship opening, suggesting demand is far outpacing training supply.
The electrical sector is under the most pressure, with 227 vacancies for each apprenticeship role.
Beyond the numbers, the report reinforces that tackling the skills gap requires both stronger apprenticeship pathways and trusted tools that allow apprentices and skilled teams to perform with confidence on-site.
The UK’s trade economy is running on an increasingly fragile pipeline. On one side, demand for skilled workers is accelerating faster than ever before, driven largely by infrastructure growth and the push for digital transformation.
In the first quarter of 2025, ONS data revealed vacancies across the construction, manufacturing, and electricity industries already exceeded 100,000, with the construction sector alone experiencing a 16% year-on-year increase.
But with skilled trades, including bricklaying, plumbing, and roofing, accounting for 10% of England’s workforce, this shortage is directly translating into delayed projects, inflated labour costs, and missed opportunities for businesses nationwide on the other hand.
The government’s housing pledge illustrates the scale of what’s at stake. Delivering 1.5 million new homes by 2030 will require an estimated 140,000 extra construction workers every year for the next five years. Yet the apprenticeship system that typically supplies this talent is producing fewer qualified tradespeople year on year.
And the recruitment challenge is only set to intensify in the coming decade, as research suggests that by 2035, one-third of the current construction workforce will have retired.
Government investment, including £600m to create up to 60,000 more engineers, bricklayers, electricians, and joiners by 2029, is a welcome step in the right direction, but investment alone cannot tackle the skills shortage.
Without a stronger, more effective apprenticeship system and active encouragement and promotion of trade industry jobs, the widening skills gap will put growth and productivity across industries at severe risk.
To truly understand the state of workforce opportunities across key UK trade industries, the team at DART collected and analysed apprenticeship and job vacancy data across construction, engineering, manufacturing, plumbing, and electrical trades.
By combining historic apprenticeship starts and completions data, with current live placement opportunities and job vacancies, the ‘Apprenticeship Gap Report’ calculated:
Absolute deficit: The number of job openings minus available apprenticeship places, showing the scale of unmet demand.
Jobs per Apprenticeships: The ratio of job vacancies for every one apprenticeship place available.
The findings highlight the mounting pressure on training pipelines, providing a clear picture of where the system is breaking down and which sectors face the greatest talent shortages.
Across all trades, there are just 809 apprenticeship openings to fill 86,047 current job vacancies, a ratio of 106 jobs competing for every single apprenticeship place.
The electrical trade faces the most severe crisis, with 227 job openings for every apprenticeship place. Engineering follows at 145:1, representing a gap of nearly 46,000 unfilled positions.
Even manufacturing, with the smallest deficit out of all the industries analysed, still has 20 full-time jobs competing for every apprenticeship opening. Taken together, these figures reflect more than just recruitment challenges, but also where project timelines are most at risk and which sectors are facing the greatest strain.
Apprenticeship Deficit by Trade
A regional analysis further reveals the deficit is not evenly distributed across Britain. Scotland faces the toughest electrical skills shortage, with 150 jobs per apprentice opening, compared to England’s 138.
Wales has a particularly severe engineering deficit at 173:1, while surprisingly offering the most balanced electrical market. These regional variations highlight clear hotspots of pressure where trade projects are most at risk of slowing down.
Jobs per Apprenticeship Opening, by region and trade
The data paints a stark picture of widening gaps between apprenticeship output and labour demand in the construction sector. Property Maintenance specialists are by far the worst hit, with almost 80 jobs for every single apprentice completer, furthered by just a 16% apprenticeship completion rate. Apprenticeship starts have also declined by 4.3% year-on-year, and by 3.3% since 2021/2022.
Similarly, Plant Operator roles face a 73:1 deficit, even as starts edged up by 6%. This comes as less than half of the starts succeeded in achieving the apprenticeship in the 2024/2025 intake.
More traditional trades that underpin the housing industry, such as Carpentry, Bricklaying, and Groundwork, are also under notable strain. Carpentry is facing a 20:1 gap, with starts down nearly a third, while Bricklaying has seen the sharpest fall in new entrants since 2021(down 42%).
Some specialist trades, like Roofing and Scaffolding, have slightly healthier completion rates, but still face apprenticeship gap ratios of 7:1 and 8:1, respectively.
Meanwhile, Painting and Decorating is struggling to attract fresh entrants at all, with starts collapsing by a third. With the government’s ambitious new homes target, demand for Painting and Decorating is set to surge over the next five years. With apprenticeship starts in steep decline, the subsector risks being unprepared to meet growth, risking bottlenecks in residential projects if training pipelines are not strengthened.
Top Construction Apprenticeships, by Deficit
Within the engineering sector, every specialist role is experiencing strong demand for labour. The greatest shortage is in Engineering Maintenance, with nearly 550 job openings for each apprentice who completes their training, and only a 34% apprenticeship completion rate for the 2024/2025 intake. Despite this, apprenticeship starts have risen by 1.5% year-on-year and by 37.7% since 2021/2022.
Similarly, Mechanical Engineering roles face a steep 488:1 deficit in its training pipeline, and have seen an 18% drop in apprenticeship starts. Nevertheless, more than half (56%) of the 2024/2025 intake successfully completed the programme, highlighting the continued interest in the trade.
Certain specialist trades, such as Fitters and Building Services Engineers, show lower labour demand, with 73 and 47 job openings per apprenticeship completions, respectively. However, continued low completion rates mean these roles still face significant labour shortages.
Top Engineering Apprenticeships, by Deficit
Out of all sectors analysed, the electrical sector is facing the most severe skills bottleneck, with apprenticeship completion rates falling far short of labour demand.
Electrical Building Services and Engineering roles are under the most pressure, with nearly 300 jobs for every qualified apprentice. Although apprenticeship starts have grown 35% since 2021/2022, low completion rates mean the surge in interest has not yet converted into the skilled workforce needed, leaving a persistent gap between demand and supply.
Other electrical roles paint a more concerning picture for the sector. While broadly defined Electrician positions have fewer jobs per apprentice opening (63:1), starts overall have dropped 16% year-on-year, coupled with persistently low completion rates. This combination indicates that, without targeted prevention to strengthen apprenticeship pathways, the labour shortfall is likely to widen.
Top Electrical Apprenticeships, by Deficit
The plumbing and heating sector is experiencing strong demand, particularly for Refrigeration Engineers and Plumbers, though both roles have faced shrinking apprenticeship intakes year-on-year and since 2021/2022.
Refrigeration Engineers, who require a broad technical skillset, are in high demand with 150 job openings for every qualified apprentice. While starts are down 17% year-on-year and completion rates sit at just 21%, the trade remains critical to infrastructure and climate-focused projects, highlighting an opportunity for support to turn interest into qualified talent.
Plumbers, on the other hand, face a smaller labour gap at 30:1, yet starts have fallen 37% since 2021/2022. This is more concerning when looking ahead, as the sector is expected to need 41,600 new plumbers by 2033 to meet both Net Zero and housebuilding targets.
With a modest annual employment growth of 2.4%, this reinforces the urgency to make trade roles more attractive to new entrants, especially amid tougher competition from other career pathways.
Top Plumbing and Heating Apprenticeships, by Deficit
Manufacturing demonstrated a relatively balanced skills pipeline compared with other sectors, averaging 20 job openings per apprentice across its trade roles.
Fabricators face the largest talent deficit, with 71 job openings per apprentice. However, a 100% completion rate in 2024/2025, the highest in the manufacturing sector, indicates a strong talent pipeline for those entering the trade.
In contrast, Manufacturing Technician and Manufacturing Engineering apprenticeships saw the highest growth in starts, rising by 8.8% and 10.8% year-on-year, respectively. Despite this, both trades also recorded the lowest completion rates (34% and 32% respectively), suggesting that while these roles attract new entrants, retention remains a major challenge, which is contributing to widening talent shortages.
Other notable trades include Heavy Vehicle Technicians and Welders, which maintain moderate talent gap ratios but continue to experience declines in apprenticeship starts.
Top Manufacturing Apprenticeships, by Deficit
Fewer than a third of apprentices starting go on to complete their programmes, creating a costly and inefficient training pipeline. While recruiting new apprentices is important, the real priority lies in ensuring that those who start actually finish.
With at least 347,000 completed construction apprenticeships needed by 2033 to meet targets and maintain growth, historic completion rates suggest around 700,000 people would need to start these programmes, a clear indication that urgent action is needed to improve retention.
Our data indicates that across all six trades, less than half of apprentices completed their programmes on average in 2024/2025, a notable drop compared with previous years when at least one trade annually surpassed a 50% completion rate.
However, the exceptionally high completion rate in 2022/2023 for the electrical sector, likely driven by rising demand to support the Net Zero transition, shows that targeted demand can boost retention.
Average apprenticeship completion rates across industries and top roles
Apprenticeship shortages aren’t just concerning numbers. When apprentices fail to complete their training, the pipeline of skilled workers shrinks and leaves trades exposed to critical talent gaps, putting both productivity and profitability on the line.
Closing this gap demands smarter workforce planning, improved training structures, and practical on-the-job tools that help apprentices not just start, but finish. By turning talent investment into tangible skills on-site, employers can secure their training pipelines and drive resilience across the trade.
Bridging the apprenticeship gap calls for proactive, practical solutions such as:
Partnering with local colleges and training providers
Introduce young people to sites earlier by working with colleges, sixth forms, and training providers. Early exposure to live projects can spark interest, build practical understanding, and position trade careers as a credible alternative to university pathways.Challenge misconceptions of trade roles
Showcase how rewarding trade careers can be, especially in developing long-term growth, specialist skills. Break down myths and outdated stereotypes about manual labour, pay, or dead-end roles by highlighting real progression opportunities from apprentice to site lead.Offer flexible, on-site learning
Blend training with production work, letting apprentices practice welding, plumbing, or concreting on real jobs under supervision. This keeps projects on track while giving apprentices meaningful experience and a sense of impact.Provide apprentices with professional-grade tools
Enhance learning, efficiency, and safety on-site by equipping apprentices with the right tools early on. Investing in high-quality tools also sends a clear signal that apprentices are valued, trusted, and supported from day one.
Tim Balcon, CEO, Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) said:
“This report demonstrates that, at present, there aren’t clear enough pathways to translate people’s training into jobs. The core issue isn’t that we’re not training enough people – around 130,000 people start some form of construction training that will lead to a qualification every year across Britain.
“However, about 40,000 of these people will secure employment in the industry after completing their training. Some will progress onto higher level apprenticeships or other forms of construction training, but many don’t enter the industry at all. Better retention of trainees and current workers in construction can significantly reduce the skills shortage.
“Addressing the skills gap requires large-scale collaboration. As part of the Government’s £600m construction skills package, we provided £32m investment to deliver increased industry placements. Similarly, we’re collaborating with the Construction Skills Mission Board to strategically coordinate national and local programmes and initiatives to address workforce needs, engage more SMEs and micro employers to invest in skills, and ensure clear pathways into construction.”
With the proper kit, apprentices can focus on mastering the technical elements of their trade, measuring, drilling, and setting out, without slowing projects down with inefficient or hard-to-work equipment.
Professional-grade tools, like SDS drill bits, auger bits, and premium accessories, are designed for compatibility and optimal performance, allowing apprentices to work across a wide range of materials with precision. This not only accelerates their own skills development but also maintains safety and efficiency during practical training.
Trade professionals can also draw on the PROclub community for resources, specialist training, and practical guidance on using tools effectively, helping apprentices and mentors work more efficiently and confidently on-site.
Breaking into a trade can feel daunting, but with the right approach, it can soon turn interest into a successful career. Here are some practical tips to help navigate doing a trade apprenticeship:
Explore opportunities early
When considering an apprenticeship, check what on-site support and equipment you’ll have access to. Research the company’s recent projects and mention specific work that interests you, as site managers will notice applicants who understand what the business actually does.Use reputable job portals
Many apprentices start their search on platforms like GOV.UK, Not Going to Uni, and sector-specific job boards like Go Construct. Keeping an eye on these sources increases the likelihood of finding quality placements.Build industry connections
Get involved with industry communities, trade groups, and open day experiences for networking, practical advice, and help for deciding which trade is right for you and what day-to-day skills are required.
Using the Department for Education’s official statistics for 2021/2022 to 2024/2025, DART Tool Group examined apprenticeship starts, enrolments, and achievements across Construction, Planning and the Built Environment, and Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies sectors.
Live apprenticeship openings were captured from official government portals across regions, analysing a total of 809 apprenticeship roles. Job vacancy data was sourced from Reed and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to calculate demand across each sector, highlighting the number of roles currently unfilled and regional variations in labour shortages.