The Changing Face of Education and Apprenticeships

Reading that there has been a 24% drop in the number of people starting in-work training, I can’t help but feel that Britain has somewhat lost its way with higher education.

Just a couple of years ago there was a huge drive towards changing the face of apprenticeships. Families were coming around to the idea that university was no longer the only option for young people after school. This is particularly true in the technology industry where graduates were finishing university with a degree, yet they are ill-equipped as they’d focussed on the wrong or old technologies.

In such a fast-paced industry, it’s difficult for businesses to stay ahead of the game, let alone schools and universities but regardless of blame, it’s not fair on young adults who invest in expensive degree courses if they are not relevant or keeping up to date.

Universities should have a moral obligation to understand what a student is wanting to achieve in life and to marry up the necessary course. If they don’t have one that specifically benefits a student, they should not be encouraging someone to pursue a piece of paper that’s more use to light a BBQ than prove they are work ready for the tech sector.

Equally the same applies to businesses offering to educate students through apprenticeships. If you don’t believe you are able to provide them with a job at the end, it’s ethically wrong to use someone’s informative years as cheap labour.

It’s time we all stepped up a gear and started acting responsibly when it comes to the education of our children and the next generation.

In stark contrast to degrees, on-the-job training through apprenticeships teaches young people practical skills they need, literally on the job, whilst actually paying them money too. The difference is not just in their skills and use, as financially they are significantly better off.

If an apprentice earns ￡11,000 a year for the first two years and then between ￡26,000 and ￡30,000 in the third year, which is the case for a great deal of our apprentices at UKFast, their three-year education program has contributed between, ￡48,000 and ￡52,000 to their cost of living. Along with giving them incredible earning capacity from a very early stage.

University on the other hand is costing people huge tuition fees. On average they are three-year courses and the average debt from young adults graduating from the ones we speak with is over ￡40,000 and in some cases over ￡50,000.

The difference between salaries across the three years is staggering. When you do the maths an apprentice is better off than a graduate in some cases by more than ￡102,000. At best, a graduate is worse off by ￡88,000.

If you interested in this subject and want to read more on this particular topic the rest of this blog can be found on my website LawrenceJones.co.uk

Or simply get involved with what we are doing within education to help give youngsters leaving school the very best charge, we'd love to hear what you are doing and any ideas you may have how we can improve our own offering.

If you are considering an Apprenticeship in IT or Social Media and marketing or even Sales, visit our Apprentice Careers Page and get in touch now.

Best LJ