So much for apprenticeships !

[Stasiland]

DS was adamant he didn't want to go to uni. Decent gcses and okayish A'levels, but not stellar grades. He was pretty certain he wanted to do an apprenticeship in IT so duly registered with several apprenticeship firms and started applying for various posts earlier in the year. CV and cover letter were literate and grammatically sound, only thing holding him back understandably was a lack of work experience in that field. Fast forward 4 months and zilch..... Apprenticeship company admit it's 'quiet', offered to expand his travelling time to one hour. So in desperation he's applied to our local uni to do a 2 year HND in computing. The uni isn't the most prestigious institution but it's a plan. He will have the opportunity to do some actual work experience between yr1 and 2. But also hopefully it will make him ultimately more employable...
Anecdotally I hear that other teens locally are having the same problems getting onto apprenticeship schemes beyond the normal ones like hairdressing and trades. It's such a shame but ds is so lucky he has another option. Just wanted to vent really and wondered if anyone else's dc has experienced similar issues ?

I’m a former apprenticeships tutor who has been laid off due to the lack of apprenticeships available. I worked for the biggest provider in our area and we picked up a few apprentices from the smaller local providers who went bust - but still, not enough vacancies out there.

@PaperMonster sorry to hear that. My son has ended up going to uni such was the lack of them. Saying that he was told there might an opportunity on the cards (whatever that means ) just as he accepted his place. Who knows what would have come of it ?

@Stasiland thanks. I’m happy to be out of it tbh. I really didn’t like how the Government changed them or how my then employer operated. Much happier now! Personally, I think your son’s done the right thing! Good luck to him!

I work for a council and we've had 9 apprenticeships advertised over the last few months and barely had an application. We have a number of IT ones. I guess it must depend where you are.

@wishingitwasfriday

I work for a council and we've had 9 apprenticeships advertised over the last few months and barely had an application. We have a number of IT ones. I guess it must depend where you are.

I have had a similar issue with an IT apprenticeship I advertised at work. Very few candidates and those that did apply weren’t great. I did warn the Head of IT that advertising July to September was not the best time.

I advertise the majority of our apprenticeships in March. It catches students perfectly who are coming up to their last few months in school and college.

@Orangejuicemarathoner

I think there is a fundamental misunderstanding here. Decent apprenticeships are pretty elite. They are not something you "decide you want" - rather something that you hope for and aim for, with a back up plan for insurance.

Generally we get our top students onto apprenticeships, and the rest go to uni.

I don't think we've misunderstood anything. Apprenticeships are supposed to be a sensible alternative to university. They are not meant to be an elite option at all.

The government keeps talking about all the feckless 18 year olds not doing STEM subjects at university. Well if they want more kids to do apprenticeships they need to sort the situation out. And it's not helped by people saying they are elitest and how dare the plebs remotely aspire to them.

Apprenticeships are supposed to be a sensible alternative to university

(and sixth form study)

These schemes sign you up with promises. But you need to find your own apprenticeship place

I thought the institute of apprenticeships was just another Tory self-serving quango.

Ds1 is trying to get on an Accountancy Apprenticeship. I realised a long time ago that they were the crème and the top calibre candidates who don't get on them, now go to the top unis, as a second choice!

@Oblomov21 Ds1 is trying to get on an Accountancy Apprenticeship. I realised a long time ago that they were the crème and the top calibre candidates who don't get on them, now go to the top unis, as a second choice!

I think it really depends on which apprenticeships you're applying to and where (in our area we still have unfilled good level 3 IT ones for example).
Obviously pwc degree apprenticeships etc using Russell group or similar unis are more competitive than a level 4 at a local uni. Both are useful depending on what you want to do.

This is really worrying. Ds who has SEN is currently n the second year of a Btec in music but is really struggling with the written part of the course. He wants to go to uni/music college but I have serious doubts as to whether he would be able to complete a degree.

Apprentiships used to be seen as a viable alternative for practical, non academic young people, now it appears there is nothing but the scrap heap for them.

The civil service is recruiting apprentices (Home Office), multiple locations. 165 jobs, Level 3, but there’s a lot of opportunity to progress / be promoted. You get 1 day per week to focus on your apprenticeship and the other 4 working in teams. Here’s the link for anyone interested. Good pension too. One of our agency staff asked me today could she opt out of the pension if she gets one of the jobs, I strongly advised her against that, guess in your 20’s you think that’s years away but she will be glad one day for paying into it!

www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/jobs.cgi?jcode=1751138&csource=csalerts&fbclid=IwAR1nc_YTVH4jfrslBdvFYsCAYW6myt8ERjv2iKxd1wXvFHDuMLpzVpGkTPg

@Comefromaway

This is really worrying. Ds who has SEN is currently n the second year of a Btec in music but is really struggling with the written part of the course. He wants to go to uni/music college but I have serious doubts as to whether he would be able to complete a degree.

Apprentiships used to be seen as a viable alternative for practical, non academic young people, now it appears there is nothing but the scrap heap for them.

There are a very wide variety of apprenticeship roles out there from level 2 to level 6.

Level 2 are equivalent to GCSE’s and are aimed at students who may have got grades 3’s or 4’s. For those who have struggled to get these grades, there are traineeships, which prepare young people for an apprenticeship. There are loads of level 2 apprenticeships on offer, but you need to think of them in the same way as applying for a normal job. An apprenticeship is a job with training. 20% is off the job, so usually day release at college.

The apprenticeships at level 6 (degree) offer less opportunities than at level 2 and are incredibly sought after and highly competitive. Don’t even worry about these ones.

The best time to look for and apply for any apprenticeship is from about 6 months before the end of the school/college year.

If you google ‘find an apprenticeship’ you will get the main government apprenticeship website. I have just done a search for all level 2 apprenticeships within 5 miles of Manchester and there are 183, which is really good for this time of year.

www.findapprenticeship.service.gov.uk/apprenticeships?ApprenticeshipLevel=Intermediate&Hash=0&Latitude=53.48297&Longitude=-2.2501&Location=Manchester%20%28Greater%20Manchester%29&LocationType=NonNational&PageNumber=1&ResultsPerPage=5&SearchAction=Search&SearchField=All&SearchMode=Keyword&SortType=Relevancy&WithinDistance=5&DisabilityConfidentOnly=False

They range from accounts, admin, hospitality, recruitment, pharmacy etc.

I also think you need to hang on until after Christmas when more will come up. Ds is in his last year of an apprenticeship and we trawled the government site for them. Try get some voluntary work on the cv as it helped my son. With regards to IT apprenticeship try Banks and Building Society’s?