University, College or Apprenticeship?
Which Way To Go From School
A recent report has suggested that those graduates who achieved first class honours degrees, are not poles apart in the earning stakes from those with 2:1, or even 2:2 degrees.
The report indicates they not even streets apart in their earnings capacities a couple of years into the work place environment.
A report a week or two later, from the Intergenerational Foundation claimed student debt repayment wiped out the earnings advantages that in theory they gained over non graduate employees.
The claim was that with the exception of Oxbridge graduates, and those gaining medical and dental degrees, there was little justification in the £9,000 tuition fee to warrant farther education being more financially rewarding and no justification that it be raised.
Interesting to note that as Prime Minister David Cameron left office, in a leaving speech he took time to point out the achievement of his government in the field of apprenticeships.
At the National Apprenticeship Week in March of this year, over 30,000 new apprenticeships were pledged by firms as disparate as brewer Greene King, Microsoft, BT, to name but a few, but other longer term providers provide a range of apprenticeship placements day in day out.
Apprenticeships are becoming a part of modern forward thinking, employers looking for potential qualities in their employees are prepared to make an investment to try and nurture that possibility.
These posts are not the stuff of post war and ‘60s and 70’s attitudes towards apprenticeships, these are seen as serious and credible career paths.
Engineering remains the number one choice apprenticeship, though the term can cover a very large range, from civil engineering to construction or electronics to marine.
IT apprenticeships were the second largest enquiry area, with electrical, plumbing and construction trade places such as carpentry, plastering and brick laying remaining popular.
The legal sector, business and marketing all show interest as do the more perennial retail and service sector, and of course the army.
There are virtually no paths that do not have the possibility of going into an apprenticeship to follow, and the courses are as varied as there are industries and professions.
Depending on the course it can last from one year to four years, and a basic wage is paid while you learn the practical hands on side, and when you are receiving academic and theoretical learning in further education colleges or with private training companies.
Once an apprenticeship is completed, in many situations, the employer is keen to continue with employing you, having made their investment, but hopefully, with a mutual feeling of optimism on both parts for a bright future.