Has anyone's DC gone on to a Level 3 apprenticeship after doing A levels or BTEC? Did it lead anywhere beyond that?

[Sunbeckons]

DD has an interview/assessment day for what looks like a great international company for a Bus. admin. apprenticeship level 3. She just finished 6th form. She, at the moment, is not that interested in university but has a deferred place for 2025 should nothing good happen in the next 12 months and she decides to go then.

There were a lack of degree or higher level apprenticeships advertised over the past 12 months. Perhaps due to the economy, but it's hard to know what might happen with opportunities for young people and how fast with the new government. I know level 6 apprenticeships are hard to get at age 18, and even graduates are coming out of uni and taking on level 3 apprenticeships to get experience and a way in to a company. Still, it's hard not to see it as a wasted sideways step and would love to hear some positive motivating stories (or the opposite!) of where a level 3 apprenticeship has led to.

Best case scenario, she likes it and does well and has the opportunity to move onto a level 6 apprenticeship. Alternately, she gets nowhere and so goes to university in two years with more confidence and more business experience. Worst case scenario, there's no scope for development, she remains on low pay but she's got too comfortable with the company and the people to want to move on. I'm basing that fear on the fact she doesn't currently like change!

I think that policy is a big issue for school leavers and adds to the huge competition for degree apprenticeships. Dc are forced to go to a lower level and work up. So although working they start the degree when others are finishing the degree. It’s been beneficial to earn whilst training but the degree holder will (should!) start on more money and will be qualified much sooner. Therefore promotion tends to come more quickly. Depends on which branch of engineering and company but some grads will accelerate quickly if they are any good and where there are extreme shortages.

I think it is an issue for school leavers. Dd would rather be starting an apprenticeship at level 4 at least, rather than repeating the level of education
she already has. There's no neat pathway for 18 year olds who don't want to go to university.

Having said that, the drop out rate for apprenticeships is extremely high - something close to 50% I think I heard. Therefore I can understand employers handing them out with caution.

@Sunbeckons I agree. The HNC at level 4 is what’s needed. Day release as we used to call it! Then 2 or 3 year degree top up.
Having to wait until 22 is late to start the degree.

The issue for employers is indeed getting the right apprentice for the business. So many dc now go to uni it’s a big sift to find the next layer down who are trainable. Obviously they are there but have not necessarily got the best A levels so an academic education might not suit. Often they don’t really know what the nitty gritty of the work and education looks like either and find it hard. They aren’t spoon fed in the same way as at school. It’s a steep learning curve. Definitely great for some but others might be better off with full time college below degree level.

There are clear higher apprenticeship pathways for 18 yo school leavers in some areas eg accountancy, aspects of IT and engineering (latter to BEng only). There are higher apprenticeships, genuinely open to 18 yo, in other sectors but they are very thin on the ground. So you have to know, at 17, what your likely career path is and it fortuitously to match one of the broad areas above. That is nub of the issue.

In the case of your DD's L3 opportunity, the logical apprenticeship step up is the L6 Chartered Manager pathway. However, I am only aware of this being heavily utilised by certain manufacturers and retailers where management of large workforces and complex supply chains are central to the business. This may or may not match the profile of this particular employer.

Alternatively she might be to vector into HR, via the CIPD pathway, or marketing, via the CIM pathway, or, subject to quant skills, some of data analytics pathways. So exposure to one or more of those functions in the target organisation, whilst doing the L3, might prove beneficial.

If your DD is offered and accepts the L3 apprenticeship, my advice is that she shows she has a thirst to progress eg asking for more complex tasks once simple ones mastered, wanting to know more about the business. Self-promotion (in the right way) is not necessarily a skill that comes naturally. So encourage your DD to see that aspect as perfectly OK and actually quite important if she is not to be unwittingly overlooked in an organisation where, perhaps, the new starters with potential are automatically assumed to be the grads.

@Sunbeckons I don't know much about progression from a level 3 apprenticeship post A levels, but if your DD has a deferred university place for next year, if she were offered this post or something similar, it sounds like a great opportunity for an 18 year old.

Business admin is more generalist than engineering, and I wouldn't think there would be so many places at above level 3, but it would be useful grounding for making a transition towards professional training for higher level qualifications.

If she enjoys the work/training and sees it going somewhere then she can stick with it. If she picks up some skills - admin, office management, accountancy, computer skills, customer service, she would also be able to apply for other jobs or training, perhaps more specialist training in some kind of business.

If she decides to take up that deferred place, this could be an above average gap year. She could start university with a little more money saved up towards rent/living costs. She might have more options for holiday work. If she returns to education next year, or later, she might get more out of her studies than those who went straight from school to university.

And even if it turns out to be really dull, that might be an incentive to return to education!

Thank you for everyone's input. DD was offered and accepted the post. She's has a great summer job and shown me to be much more driven than appeared during sixth form so I am happy knowing she knows herself and her strengths and desires a little more going into this apprenticeship. I'm going to chill out and leave her to it and appreciate that, in the absence of going to university, she has something concrete to do for the next 12-18 months.

Good news. Thanks for letting us know it, and congratulations to your daughter.

@Sunbeckons Congratulations to your DD - I hope she gets on famously 😊