Paid Apprenticeships with degree

[Maggiethecat]

Dd2, year 10, has been telling me about paid apprenticeships and being very money driven would like to explore this path.

I'm not sure how serious she is as she doesn't even really know what she wants to do afterwards but she is very academic (social sciences leaning) and likely to get offers from very good unis.

I think that route is probably good for people who know what they want to do and getting paid experience and a degree at the end sounds appealing.

Does anyone have any experience of apprenticeships and which field?

I didn't do an apprenticeship but 40 years ago I worked in local government and did my degree at the local poly on day release. I had one day a week paid leave to attend lectures, one week paid study leave for every set of exams plus leave for the exams and all expenses paid e.g. books, travel costs. It took 4 years to do the degree, we did a long day of lectures 9 am to 7 pm with one break plus lunch. It was hard, I had two children at the time and when I applied to do the degree my boss said it was fine if I could do 5 days work in 4 days so I had 15 minutes for lunch, started work early and made sure I would get continuing permission every year.

My degree was public administration, I got two promotions while doing the degree and ended up with a job I would never have got otherwise. There were 18 and 19 year olds on my course and they struggled, often handing in work late. It wasn't unusual to have a lecturer telling them it wasn't good enough and look at Ancient with kids doing it. I used to say it was different, my choice was doing the ironing or an assignment, their's was going out with friends or doing an assignment. Not the same thing at all.

Degree apprenticeships are an amazing route if you are with a good blue chip employer for engineering, accountancy etc.

To be CEng you need to fulfill 2 requirements

• 4 years of engineering education which means either MEng or BEng + MSc


• 4 years of professional engineering work experience

If you go straight to university and do MEng you only have to work for 4 years as engineer then can apply for CEng.

If you do degree apprenticeship and get a BEng. It may take 3 years or so but you getting PAID, get work experience and a JOB with a good employer. If you want to do a CEng you can always do a MSc part time or full time possibly with employer support and go for them.

Degree apprenticeships are the smart choice, thinking person choice. I don’t think there is much difference in earnings between the two. If you are after money you wouldn’t bother going into engineering but would do law, IT or investment banking in the City etc.

Can i just say ds degree apprenticeship is 5 years not the normal 3 and he goes to uni 1 day a week and works 4 days.

A friend’s son is doing one with a major bank. All sorts of reasons why he did not want to go to University, despite 4 good A levels, including his parents splitting up and him having to move country aged 17 and generally being burnt out at school. He had no real desire to ‘move away’ given he was only just finding his feet in the UK, and he probably felt his younger siblings needed him at home.

He is a very impressive young man which is probably why he got the position. It was very very competitive. I am not sure which University he is attached to but would expect that if he were to change jobs a new employer would be mainly interested in his skills and experience. He got lucky in that with lockdown he is probably better off than his peers who had a grim University experience as well as mountains of debt. He now hopes to work abroad which will be his way of getting away from home and having new experiences.

Another friend’s daughter has just completed a paramedic degree apprenticeship. This was seriously hard work, balancing a busy job with study. My friend is very proud. Her sister has not been put off and has just been accepted for the nursing equivalent. It is apparently really competitive, so just being selected is a major achievement. Again young people who did not seem to have a great yearning for ‘the student experience’ instead wanting to earn, and willing to work hard.

Agree that paramedic science is a really tough one.
Dp teaches on that in a Scottish uni.
The students have to work very hard and it can be tough emotionally too.

I teach on a policing one (i don't think you get those in Scotland - I commute) and again, the students have to work very hard.
I believe I try my absolute best to teach and supervise in a way that is supportive but at the same time it is intense for students as it's compressed into a week or fortnight every so often.

There isn't time to wind down in between learning things.
It is marked to the same standard as any degree, and they also have to work 4 days on, 4 days off, with half shifts being night shifts.
The positive, for me, is their research for their dissertations is actually used to improve policing practice.

Dd did an IT apprenticeship. She took 2 years, got paid, got an HND.
She didn't get a degree but that means funding is still there if she wants to later in life.
She loved it.
It was through QA.
She now has a well-paid job.

That’s really interesting about the way things are done in Scotland. My 20 years experience of apprenticeships are just in England and Wales. I am starting a new job in 3 months and it will also mean dealing with Scottish apprenticeships.