Should DS do a Big 4 Apprenticeship or go to Cambridge?

[StressedaboutUni]

DS has managed to get a Big4 Apprenticeship in Accountancy and he has also managed to get an offer to read economics at Cambridge. Assuming he gets the grades, he is not sure which one to pick. Going to the apprenticeship would give him the opportunity to save 60k over three years vs 45k debt. He would also be able to become fully qualified accountant in 4 years. He would not get a degree though.
Cambridge would open doors for him in other industries that he may consider in the future such as Investment Banking or Management Consultancy.
He is really confused on what to do.

In my view, decent A-levels and bright enough to do a reasonably rigorous (academic) degree.

Ditto.
I'm an accountant, my children's dad is an accountant. Their step dad was an accountant. Their step mum is an accountant.
(They haven't got a hope have they 🤣).
Ds2 is interested in some sort of financial career. He did a summer work experience (7 weeks, 3 days a week) with my firm after his GCSEs last year. He now doesn't want to be an accountant, but wants to do what his dad does - which needs an accounting background.

Cambridge! Then ACA after if he still wishes

I’m ACA myself. I think the apprenticeship scheme is great!!! But not for someone with a Cambridge offer. How amazing to have that on a CV.

Well done to your DS you must be proud.

He has plenty of chance to excel at the ACA post Cambridge if that is what he still wants to do.

I’m a lawyer working for a large commercial firm so deal regularly with big four accountants and other professionals including top KCs. I’m absolutely a fan of apprenticeships and don’t think everyone needs to go to uni. An apprenticeship at a Big 4 firm is a great opportunity and could lead to a great career.

But seriously if he got into Cambridge he should take the offer. It’s such a prestigious degree to have and will open lots of doors for him.

Year out and then Cambridge. He can be an accountant any day of the year after his degree. The degree and exposure t other intellectual interests may take him down a path he hadn’t considered.

Congratulations to your son and to you. Sounds like he will make it whatever route he chooses, but the degree is an insurance policy.

Definitely Cambridge!

Cambridge- no question. If he still wants to work for a big 4 accountancy firm he can but he’ll have loads more options this way. If big money is his thing he’ll have the choice of much higher paid jobs.

My apprenticeship (age 40) will give me a Russell Group masters at the end. If that isn’t the case for the apprenticeship from a big 4 then I’d say Cambridge. My db works in Canada now following his Cambridge degree in economics (moves for love but gave him the flex to work globally).

Uni. Life isn't all about working. Let him have some fun, meeting new people from all over ffs. He can work 24/7 when he joins the grad scheme.

So anything other than Oxbridge? Or anything other than RGplus? Genuine question.

Go to Cambridge- no contest at all!

Cambridge! He won’t get that opportunity again, but can apply to Big 4 at any time. I did Oxford PPE and then ACA at a Big 6 (as it was then) firm. But I didn’t enjoy accountancy and switched to the legal profession where I am now a senior barrister. The combination of an Oxford 1st plus ACA made that a relatively easy transition, but the ACA on its own wouldn’t even have got me a pupillage interview, then or now.

Cambridge will open way more doors in life.

There is no comparing the experience of a collegiate Uni to a job in an accountancy big 4

Trust me!

Please don't worry about the student loan
It's just not an issue.

OP thank you for this thread! My DD has the same dilemma albeit not Cambridge but RG to study Economics....or audit apprenticeship with one of the Big 4. Ultimate aim is also investment banking.....so reading this with interest. Classic mumsnetters with some great advice...thank you 😊

Honestly, I'm not sure.
I debated over the wording to use, and that came closest to what I think I meant.
I think you need to be brighter than "average" to do the professional qualifications - i.e. capable of an academic degree regardless of not choosing that route.
Maybe anything other than RG.
But it isn't cut & dried.

30 years ago (when I did it) I'd have said go and do the degree, no question. Enjoy the experience etc. But now, it's an expensive experience.
If you are going to arrive at the same qualification and move into a reasonably good, but not necessarily super-high-flying, career then doing the qualification in 4 years (rather than 6 with the 3 uni + 3 prof qual route), plus earning for those 4 years AND not incurring the student debt becomes more attractive.

My ds1 mentioned above is doing a degree. He very much sees this as a necessary stepping stone to his career. He is enjoying the study, more so in the 2nd year than the 1st, but he is really not getting the whole student experience. He just isn't interested.

My ds2 would hugely enjoy the whole student experience, but (depending on what he wants to do) probably doesn't need it in the same way for his career.

And then, 21yos are generally more mature than 18yos, especially when they have lived away from home for the uni years.

Both are great choices.

For a career in business the ACA opens a lot of doors and doesn't close many. Big 4 gives great training, allows entry to a diverse range of careers, albeit probably not as wide as the degree.

Cambridge Economics keeps more doors open (academia, for example) but comes at a cost as you say. The degree might bring a stronger network, creating more future options, but that depends on your son and whether he will use the social opportunities Cambridge creates.

Neither is a bad choice, but despite being >25 years into a Big 4 career that I planned would be 'qualify and leave', I would probably do the degree. That's mainly because I feel I got a lot out of my degree and it kept my options broad. Do look for scholarship opportunities at university, if eligible to help offset the cost.

Some very good/successful partners have been people who joined straight from school - e.g Big 4 Global Head of Industry level (for example) - which is why I say there's not a bad choice.

Cambridge. Without a doubt. He can do better than big 4 with a Cambridge degree

A degree from Cambridge will give him more opportunities/choice in the future. What a wonderful dilemma. Congratulations to your DS.

I'm a Cambridge graduate and have worked in Big4 for 20 years.

Cambridge gives you so many opportunities. It teaches you how to learn for yourself, how to research, analyse, and debate. It challenges and supports people who are intellectually curious. Your friendships, clubs, sports, arts, theatre, independence and life choices are all open for choosing but all in a fairly safe environment so if you make a mistake its easy to recover. There are bursaries and hardship funds available for less wealthy families if tuition fees or other costs are a concern.

A Big4 apprenticeship leading to ACA or CTA is a good qualification but you would lose out on the wider life and learning experiences of Cambridge. For someone who really wants to work and sees learning as a means to an end an apprenticeship is ideal and a huge headstart on graduates. But for someone that enjoys learning for the intellectual challenge then Cambridge would be better.

The friendships you make and have as an adult may also be different due to not having those 3 formative years to discover life for yourself surrounded by peers from all over the world.

The Big4 will be there waiting, as will many other career opportunities after Cambridge.

Let him decide?

He would be mad to turn down Cambridge for an apprenticeship! Cambridge will give him so many other opportunities.

Cambridge

I have a DC currently undertaking a L7 accountancy apprenticeship. The key issue is whether DC are happy to commit to that particular professional pathway and, crucially, prefer to work and learn in parallel from the outset rather than immerse themselves in the academic world for a period of time. If concern over uni costs is the primary driver for considering the apprenticeship offer, then that is the wrong reason to be considering that route.

More generally, I am not sure that L7 school leaver apprenticeships are simply the preserve of the 'averagely bright' (as suggested above). Many often have very high A level grades and the maturity to perform alongside 22 year old grads whilst still only 18 - but the path is very specific and the need to juggle work and study simultaneously suits some but not all; really it has to be that you crave that ahead of the uni experience if you are going to succeed.

Cambridge

Cambridge. Definitely.