Are there really that many places looking to take on apprentices at the moment? I've taken the pre-vocational route and completed the course 2-3 months ago and would have thought employers would be getting in contact with the school to find suitable apprentices. The school was at least able to find me and the other students some work experience.
I kept an eye on the paper and checked job sites frequently during the course but it seems apprenticeships are rarely advertised this way. There don't appear to be any jobs locally and I've also tried following up on various contacts people have given me. If there really are jobs out there they're certainly hard to find.