Higher and degree apprenticeships should be one of the most powerful drivers of social mobility.

They offer the chance to earn while learning, gain real workplace experience and leave with a degree, all without taking on tuition fee debt. For young people from lower-income backgrounds especially, they should offer an alternative pathway into professional careers, not a more complicated or exclusive one.

Our latest research at the Social Mobility Foundation suggests that promise is slipping further out of reach for many of the young people who stand to benefit most.

found that access to degree apprenticeships is increasingly shaped by where a young person lives, who they know and what financial support they can draw on.

Too often opportunity is being decided by a postcode, not potential – with nearly a third of opportunities concentrated in just ten postcode areas. Participation from more deprived communities has fallen in recent years. Most strikingly, a degree apprenticeship is 3.5 times less accessible than a place at a Russell Group university for a student on free school meals.

That should concern everyone working in further education.

Of course, national policy matters. But colleges, training providers and employers have a huge role in determining who gets through the door. We already know the barriers exist. The more pressing question is whether we’re willing to remove them.

The first place to start is awareness

One message came through clearly when we spoke to our Apprenticeship Ambassadors: far too many young people are finding out about degree apprenticeships by chance or through their own research. They hear about them from a friend, see a post on Tik Tok or hear a passing reference in school career talks. Many have told us that careers advisors are focused on the university pathway and don’t offer much advice on degree apprenticeships.

That’s a particular problem because awareness is not evenly distributed.

Young people from professional backgrounds are more likely to know degree apprenticeships exist and understand how to apply. Those from lower-socio economic backgrounds often depend on school and college guidance, which remains inconsistent and, in some cases, absent altogether. For such an important decision, we shouldn’t be relying on chance.

Employers, colleges and providers need to work together to reach the communities that have the fewest opportunities. That means starting earlier, explaining how applications work, and giving students a realistic understanding of what interviews and assessment centres involve.

For many young people, there is nobody at home who can walk them through the process. Outreach must fill some of that knowledge gap.

Recruitment practices deserve just as much scrutiny.

Too many degree apprenticeship recruitment processes still favour those who already understand the rules of the game. Entry requirements can be higher than those for comparable university courses, while application processes are often lengthy, complex and difficult to navigate.

Colleges therefore have a vital role to play in supporting applicants and demystifying the process, using their expertise, networks and guidance to help students access these opportunities.

However, widening access cannot rest on colleges alone. Employers also have a responsibility to ensure their recruitment practices identify talent wherever it is found, rather than advantage those who are already familiar with the system.

Already there are employers already showing that a different approach is possible.

Many are moving towards contextual recruitment, assessing achievement in the context of a candidate’s background and circumstances rather than relying solely on traditional markers of attainment. The principle is simple: recruit for potential, not privilege.

At Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, formal qualification requirements have been removed from engineering apprenticeship programmes to place greater emphasis on aptitude and potential. Freshfields use contextual recruitment and skills-based assessment to identify potential beyond conventional measures of achievement, helping open up opportunities to talented young people who may not have followed the most traditional route.

These examples matter because they challenge the idea that widening access means lowering standards. It doesn’t. It means looking more closely at where talent is being overlooked and designing recruitment processes that give more young people a fair opportunity to demonstrate what they can do.

Clarity on the acceptance of vocational qualifications throws up another obstacle.

Only a minority of degree apprenticeship vacancies explicitly accept qualifications such as BTECs, despite vocational routes being taken disproportionately by students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. If degree apprenticeships are intended to provide an alternative route into professional careers, they cannot continue to close the door on many of the students most likely to use them.

Colleges and providers should continue pushing for wider recognition of Level 3 qualifications, including BTECs and T Levels, while employers should take a fresh look at requirements that may be narrowing their talent pool unnecessarily.

We also need to be more honest about the role of money.

Degree apprenticeships are often described as a more affordable option. For some young people, they are. For those living far from opportunity or without family resources, the costs arrive long before the first pay cheque.

Accommodation deposits, relocation costs and travel expenses can leave applicants needing between £1,700 and £2,900 upfront simply to take up an opportunity. Unlike university students, apprentices do not have access to equivalent maintenance support, and commercial borrowing is often not an option.

For families without savings to fall back on, that can be enough to make the opportunity impossible.

Colleges can play an important role in helping young people understand the financial support available to them, navigate their options, and access bursaries, grants and other sources of assistance. However, information and guidance alone cannot remove every barrier.

This is one of the areas where employers can act immediately. Travel bursaries, relocation support and upfront financial assistance can make the difference between an offer being technically available and truly accessible.

The good news is that none of this depends on new legislation.

Many employers are already showing what’s possible. They understand that widening access is not about charity or corporate goodwill. It’s about finding talent that might otherwise be overlooked.

The same principle applies to colleges and providers.

If we’re serious about social mobility, we cannot accept a system where a young person’s prospects are shaped more by their postcode, their personal networks or their family’s finances than by their ability.

Our report shows that these barriers are not inevitable. Its recommendations are practical and achievable. But as government continues to invest in apprenticeships, we must ensure those opportunities widen access rather than embed existing inequalities.

By Sarah Atkinson, CEO at The Social Mobility Foundation