Apprenticeship: earn while you learn
If you’re anything like I was, you’ll spend most of your Sixth Form life looking at university league tables, spending a fortune on train tickets to visit those universities, and wading through one prospectus after another.
For a long time, you don’t consider anything else. You have always thought you would go to university - it’s always been the narrative you’d follow - so why consider anything different? It’s the best path and will, supposedly, ensure a successful career.
But what if I said university isn’t the only direction after A Levels? What if I said apprenticeships aren’t just about trades like plumbing or carpentry?
Degree level apprenticeships are on the rise. With the obvious benefit of getting paid while you learn, rather than coughing up many thousands of pounds in fees - they are not something to ignore. A growing number of companies are offering apprenticeships in a range of fields - from nuclear working to social media marketing; criminal investigation to HM forces. There really is an apprenticeship for anything. In this day and age, it’s easier than ever to find out what’s available - just Google it.
So: you’ve spent your life thinking you should go to university. Despite the benefits, it still seems like a huge risk to switch paths. Why change your mind now? Why go straight into the working world? For me, the deciding factor was the promise of a degree at the end - and, all going well, a job too. If your primary reason for going to university is simply to obtain a degree, then it’s well worth researching the other options. A degree apprenticeship allows you to graduate debt-free, and gives you a leg-up with the skills and experience that companies are asking for.
If a degree isn’t a priority for you, go for other qualifications that apprenticeships can give. There is really no harm in applying and seeing how far you get. I won’t lie: applying for a competitive apprenticeship does require a bit more work than just submitting a personal statement to UCAS. Depending on the field you’re going into, there will be interviews (more than one), teamwork challenges, networking, assessments and more. But you’ll have to do all this at the end of university anyway - why not just do it now?
You may also find that they ask for lower A Level grades than universities because, refreshingly, they take skills into consideration, rather than exam results alone. It’s natural to have concerns about apprenticeships. Even though they are gaining in popularity, it still feels as though you don’t really know what you are getting into - mainly because there are fewer people talking about the experience than with university. As well as this, each company does their apprenticeship schemes in different ways, and every one is unique.
You also may be concerned about missing out on the university life, or the reduced holidays, or not knowing about the kind of people that go for apprenticeships. I’m here to tell you from my (admittedly very biased) opinion that apprenticeships are completely worth it. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Yes, it is different to university, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. At the time of writing this article, I have been an apprentice for two months. In that time, I have learnt degree modules, how to communicate with managers, and how to work efficiently and proactively as part of a team - and, perhaps most importantly, had a lot of fun. I am lucky enough to be with a group of people who value each other and the work we do. Everyone wants to be there, because choosing to do an apprenticeship is no small decision, and it isn’t the automatic choice.
If you take anything from this, it should be to just apply to any apprenticeships you like the sound of: you don’t know how great they really are.
Rebecca Curquejo, alumni writer
For a long time, you don’t consider anything else. You have always thought you would go to university - it’s always been the narrative you’d follow - so why consider anything different? It’s the best path and will, supposedly, ensure a successful career.
But what if I said university isn’t the only direction after A Levels? What if I said apprenticeships aren’t just about trades like plumbing or carpentry?
Degree level apprenticeships are on the rise. With the obvious benefit of getting paid while you learn, rather than coughing up many thousands of pounds in fees - they are not something to ignore. A growing number of companies are offering apprenticeships in a range of fields - from nuclear working to social media marketing; criminal investigation to HM forces. There really is an apprenticeship for anything. In this day and age, it’s easier than ever to find out what’s available - just Google it.
So: you’ve spent your life thinking you should go to university. Despite the benefits, it still seems like a huge risk to switch paths. Why change your mind now? Why go straight into the working world? For me, the deciding factor was the promise of a degree at the end - and, all going well, a job too. If your primary reason for going to university is simply to obtain a degree, then it’s well worth researching the other options. A degree apprenticeship allows you to graduate debt-free, and gives you a leg-up with the skills and experience that companies are asking for.
If a degree isn’t a priority for you, go for other qualifications that apprenticeships can give. There is really no harm in applying and seeing how far you get. I won’t lie: applying for a competitive apprenticeship does require a bit more work than just submitting a personal statement to UCAS. Depending on the field you’re going into, there will be interviews (more than one), teamwork challenges, networking, assessments and more. But you’ll have to do all this at the end of university anyway - why not just do it now?
You may also find that they ask for lower A Level grades than universities because, refreshingly, they take skills into consideration, rather than exam results alone. It’s natural to have concerns about apprenticeships. Even though they are gaining in popularity, it still feels as though you don’t really know what you are getting into - mainly because there are fewer people talking about the experience than with university. As well as this, each company does their apprenticeship schemes in different ways, and every one is unique.
You also may be concerned about missing out on the university life, or the reduced holidays, or not knowing about the kind of people that go for apprenticeships. I’m here to tell you from my (admittedly very biased) opinion that apprenticeships are completely worth it. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Yes, it is different to university, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. At the time of writing this article, I have been an apprentice for two months. In that time, I have learnt degree modules, how to communicate with managers, and how to work efficiently and proactively as part of a team - and, perhaps most importantly, had a lot of fun. I am lucky enough to be with a group of people who value each other and the work we do. Everyone wants to be there, because choosing to do an apprenticeship is no small decision, and it isn’t the automatic choice.
If you take anything from this, it should be to just apply to any apprenticeships you like the sound of: you don’t know how great they really are.
Rebecca Curquejo, alumni writer
