Apprenticeships L3 or L4

[NanaStrikesAgain]

DS is doing A levels/btec l3 currently, he’s keeping up but it’s a challenge.

Thinking ahead to next year and he thinks he wants to do an apprenticeship rather than go to uni, which I agree is probably the best option for him.

If your child has done 6th form and then gone onto an apprenticeship, did they go for a L3 or L4?

DS has additional needs, dyslexia, adhd, ASD, dyspraxia and has been at a specialist independent school since yr7.

He’s predicted great grades for a levels (B B C) but I wonder if he’d be better going for a L3 apprenticeship as it’ll be quite a big jump into the world of work for him from a social skills / independence perspective.

Does anyone have experience of being in this situation? Probably it would be finance industry related. Did your child find the transition to a L4 apprenticeship ok? Any experiences welcome!

Won’t the jump into work be the same regardless of apprentice level? The only difference will be the academic work with level 3 being A level equivalent and lvl 4 being equivalent of the first year of university level.

With those grades I’d do a level 4 .

My DS did A levels and got BCC. He’s currently doing a L4 apprenticeship and is finding the college side super easy and is way ahead of where he needs to be. Especially after A levels. I’d say definitely go L4.

Yes this is what I’m trying to guage - going to work will be a big transition for him, so how much extra will the workload be for him studying on top of adjusting to the world of work.

Academically yes he could do a degree. I’m just not sure with the adjustment and transition into the world of work whether it would be too much.

Thanks that’s really good to know and gives me a bit of a gauge.

DS has Fridays off work to do the college work. It’s very manageable. Degree apprenticeship might have been different but I really don’t think you need to worry about the difference in workload from L3 to L4. The jump from lots of school holidays to 25 days annual leave on the other hand.. 🤣

If he is interested in something finance related, a L3 Accounting apprenticeship taking AAT would be a gentler start than L4. L4 builds on everything within L3, which is deemed to be assumed knowledge. Some employers let you take 2 core papers at L3 (FAPS & MATS) then move you straight up to L4 within 6 months.

My apprentice at work did L3 AAT. It is an adjustment working and studying at the same time, if it's under the apprenticeship scheme there's a fair amount of additional evidence to provide that they're actually learning something, and it meant they had the basics secure for moving on to L4.

It can be done fairly quickly and it is time well spent for finance qualifications.