Pharma industry apprenticeships at a four-year high, according to ABPI survey

Higher level apprenticeships have hit a four-year high across the pharmaceutical industry, according to a new survey into links between industry and academia by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI).

More and more, global pharmaceutical companies are using the apprenticeship route to maintain a steady stream of highly-skilled workers and fill skills gaps in key roles.

As apprenticeships are being viewed as a more viable option into career over academic pathways the number apprenticeships across the industry have seen healthy increases — 31% since 2015 and 169% since 2013. These are representative as 82% in IT, 21% in engineering and 165% in R&D. Only in manufacturing was there a decrease, which was 13%.

Additionally, the survey highlighted an increase in the number of undergraduate placements — 704 undergraduate industrial placements (IPs) were recorded in 2017, an increase of 17% from 2015. There was also an increase in the number of students starting a sandwich course (one which involves a combination of study with a work placement) — increasing by 36% over the past five years.

Topping the list of academic institutions with the most undergraduates in IPs was the University of Bath, which had 59 for the second year running, most of whom are in R&D placements. Bath were followed by Loughborough University with 31 IPs — which includes 9 in manufacturing placements.

“While there has been a steady uptake of apprenticeships year on year which is certainly encouraging, this alone will not bridge the skills gaps within the pharmaceutical industry,” explained Andrew Croydon, head of Education and Academic Liaison. “The growth in IT apprenticeships and undergraduate placements are important and goes some way in filling the skills gap within emerging technologies but if the UK is to retain and grow its world-leading life sciences status, it is crucial to develop a strategic approach in developing a skills pipeline for the entire Life Sciences sector.”

“The importance of the Life Sciences sector was highlighted by the government’s Industry Strategy, and it is crucial that we fully exploit the inherent potential this sector holds in order to anchor the UK as a global hub of research and innovation,” added Malcolm Skingle C.B.E, director of Academic Liaison at GSK and chair of the ABPI Academic Liaison Expert Network. “Links between industry and academia are fundamental to this goal, and with the upcoming departure of the UK from the European Union, increasing collaboration is imperative to further developing the UK science base as a whole.”

In their survey, the ABPI asks companies to submit data about their academic links across their entire business, from undergraduate placements to large-scale collaborative projects which bring together industry, academia, charities and the NHS.

It is expected that the trends within the pharmaceutical industry, seen from these survey results, will mean that the apprenticeship base will continue to increase and meet the target of 20,000 apprenticeships in the science sector by 2020.