Stress Awareness Month: looking after apprentices’ mental wellbeing

April is Stress Awareness Month, an annual event dedicated to recognising the causes of stress and helping individuals and organisations find ways to combat it.  

As we all know, the Covid lockdown took its toll on people's mental health, but five years on, stress and anxiety in the workplace remain a cause for concern, especially among younger employees.  

According to Mental Health First Aid England, a quarter of UK workers surveyed in 2024 said they felt unable to cope with workplace stress. Some 79% reported experiencing moderate-to-high stress levels, with younger employees aged 16 to 24 and women among the most affected.  

Apprenticeships and workplace stress  

These findings were borne out in Onefile's own recent whitepaper: Maximising Apprenticeship Success: The Case for Learner Engagement, which sought the views of apprentices, employers and training providers.  

In our study we looked at the impact of apprenticeships on mental wellbeing and found that stress was an issue for over 50% of the apprentices we surveyed. Onefile asked them if their apprenticeship had ever made them feel stressed or anxious over the past 12 months and more than half said 'yes'. Of these, nearly a quarter - 24.62% - said 'yes, often' and an even larger percentage - 29 .74% -told us 'Yes, sometimes'. One in five - 20% - said they felt stressed 'occasionally'.  

To learn more, we gave respondents who answered 'yes' or 'occasionally,' a multiple-choice questionnaire on what was causing their stress anxiety. 

Apprentices told us the most common causes were: 

• Not being able to manage the demands of the job/college work - 56.82% 

• The impact on their work/life balance - 43.75% 

• Not fully understanding what was needed from them - 43.18% 

• Worries about end point assessment (EPA) - 39.20% 

• Not receiving enough support and/or information - 36.3% 

• Feeling out of control with how they are being asked to work - 27.27% 

Employer awareness of apprentices' mental wellbeing  

In the employer section of our white paper, we surveyed businesses and organisations to determine their levels of awareness around apprentice wellbeing. 

We asked if an apprentice had ever mentioned feeling stressed or anxious about the work they were doing for them. Most - 69% -said 'no' but almost a third - 31% - said 'yes'. 

We then asked employers what procedures they had in place to help manage their apprentices' health and wellbeing. We added that these could be part of wider workplace measures. The most popular options they chose were: 

• A metal health at work plan that promotes positive wellbeing and provides relevant information on where to access support - 24% 

• A workplace environment that encourages open conversations about mental health and the support available to staff - 16% 

• Providing apprentices with good working conditions - 15%  

• Promoting mental health awareness among employees - 10% 

None of the employers surveyed provided mental health training for apprentices' line managers.  

Training providers' awareness of apprentices' mental wellbeing  

We also asked training providers if apprentices had ever told them they felt anxious or stressed about the work they did for them. Most - 70% - said 'no' but nearly a third - 30% - said 'yes'.  

Training providers reported using a range of tools and processes to help support apprentices' wellbeing. These included: 

• Recognition, such as awards after appraisal, shout-outs on social media and making nominations for award schemes.  

• Empowering apprentices to explore and develop their own ideas 

• Encouraging apprentices to be part of communities that are important to them, such as events on topics of interest or involvement in diversity. 

• Talking to apprentices about wellbeing in a safe, supportive environment.  

Most colleges and other training providers we surveyed told us they engaged with their learners. Nearly half - 45% - said they were 'very engaged', more than a third, 38%, engaged' and 13% 'quite engaged'.  

Onefile's conclusions on stress and anxiety among apprentices  

After examining the responses of all three cohorts Onefile concluded that workload is clearly a source of stress and anxiety for a lot of apprentices. While recognising that pressure is a fact of working life, we were concerned to note that it was often excessive for learners so early on in their careers.  

Our findings - and conclusions - tally with those of MFHA England, who say that creating a supportive and mentally healthy workplace is crucial to the wellbeing of all employees.  

It found that businesses and organisations who implemented mental health training for managers saw a 30% reduction in mental health-related absences. Its research also showed that more than half - 52% - of employees felt more engaged and productive when their employers provided resources such as access to counselling or wellness programmes.  

Many of us have to deal with increased workloads and looming deadlines on occasions, but for apprentices with off the job work to complete as well, it can all feel rather overwhelming.  

To help them cope Onefile's whitepaper calls for employers to have a sharper focus on managing the mental health and wellbeing of apprentices. By recognising the pressure learners are under - and making stress management a bigger priority - apprentices will feel happier, better supported and more likely to complete their programmes.