Agents of Change - Supporting SMEs through apprenticeship brokerage services
Edge has published two new reports that examine the relationship between apprenticeships for young people and SMEs. Young people are now more interested in apprenticeships than ever before, but the system for finding and applying for apprenticeships is failing to keep pace. In 2023, over 40% of UCAS applicants expressed an interest in apprenticeships. But Edge has found that one in three young people who try to secure an apprenticeship don't succeed, and too many give up due to a lack of support and an unduly complex application process.
Our new policy report, Chaos to Coordination, below, is based on extensive interviews and roundtables with young people, apprentices, employers, training providers, devolved authorities, careers advisers, policy professionals and apprenticeship platforms conducted by Edge between March and July 2025. The work was supported by employer polling undertaken by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation on behalf of Edge. We found that the current system for advertising and applying for apprenticeships is unsupported and complex to navigate. In this, and our second new report, Agents of Change, we try to understand how to make apprenticeships work much more effectively, especially for SMEs.
The full data tables are available to download here. Our interviews and roundtables also found that the current system is:
- Preventing schools and colleges from providing high-quality, impartial information about apprenticeships, as required by statutory guidance;
- Holding young people back from making first-class applications to their dream apprenticeship or putting them off applying altogether;
- Hindering employers – especially SMEs – from advertising opportunities externally and taking on young apprentices; and, ultimately
- Undermining mission-critical Government ambitions like the Youth Guarantee and reforms to the skills training landscape.
Alice Gardner, Chief Executive, Edge Foundation.These reports make clear that apprenticeships work – but only if the system works for young people and for the small businesses that want to employ them. Right now, we have a generation eager to learn and contribute, and SMEs ready to grow their teams, yet both are being held back by unnecessary complexity and lack of support. By creating a simple, joined-up system and ensuring every employer can access practical advice, we can unlock thousands of life-changing opportunities.
This report sets out our vision for a national one-stop shop for apprenticeships, built on the existing Find an Apprenticeship platform on the Government website, which hosts all available apprenticeship vacancies, with wraparound application features that benefit prospective apprentices and hiring managers. Both reports underpin our new national campaign, Apprenticeships Work.
Written by
Sorah Gluck and Holly Papworth, Edge Foundation.