Students could be able to apply for degree apprenticeships through the Ucas website within two or three years.

At present, only higher education degrees can be applied for through Ucas. But chief executive Clare Marchant (pictured) said the service was working on plans for candidates to be able to apply for degree apprenticeships alongside their five university choices.

Ms Marchant told The Times that not having a single, simple application system for degree apprenticeships could be stopping them from growing.

Read more: Wealthiest youngsters snap up degree apprenticeships

More news: 'Cold spots' miss out on degree apprenticeships

Background: Degree apprenticeships: What you need to know

Degree apprenticeship applications 'difficult'

“Navigating through the options is difficult,” she added. “We have an apprenticeship hub with a basic search capacity but we are working with big companies on how to provide a better search and applications capacity.

“Building the new technology for applications is relatively straightforward and, in future, candidates will be able to apply for degree apprenticeships alongside their five university choices. I would hope this will be possible within two or three years.”

The idea of a Ucas-style portal for apprenticeships has been touted for a number of years and was a Conservative Party commitment in its 2017 manifesto.

Extra government cash needed

Speaking to Tes in January, Ms Marchant said the organisation would like to run a central apprenticeships application portal but, given that it is a charity with a limited budget, it would be up to the government to stump up the extra cash.

The news comes as figures released by the Office for Students (OfS) showed that in 2016-17, only 13 per cent of young people in degree-level apprenticeships were from the most disadvantaged backgrounds.