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We'd like to hear your thoughts on apprenticeships - regardless of your level of knowledge. This survey is open to Mumsnet users with at least one child aged 13 to 18 and all respondents will be entered into a prize draw for a £150 voucher (from the store of the winner's choice, from a list).

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MNHQ

That was a short survey.

I'd have loved a place to comment since my DD1 actually did 2/3rds of an apprenticeship...

Why 2/3rds, Teen+? Why didn't they finish it.

Nursery. Injured herself lifting a child plus a few other things at work at the same time. No chance to recover, struggled on longer than she should have. Went off sick. 7 months to recover enough to work but can't do something so manual. 2 full years after original injury still not fully recovered.

The thing that upsets me most is she has nothing to show for it. She wasn't allowed to finish remaining assignments whilst off sick. She wasn't allowed to have anything in writing showing which units she had completed.
Complete lack of visibility anywhere as to what she should/shouldn't be allowed to do in the circumstances.

That said, I wasn't over keen on her working in a nursery and I think she is better suited to job where she is now.

I’d have like a place to comment as my 16 year old is on an apprenticeship and is doing brilliantly. He was not uni material, but is absolutely thriving hands on.

I am currently trying to persuade my 17yo to look at degree apprenticeships in his chosen profession but he's only interested in universities. This is a shame as his predicted grades and course choice mean a decent uni isn't on the cards so he's looking at being saddled with a £27k+ debt in a notoriously poorly paid (starting salaries) industry.
Still have a few months to turn his head...

The choice of apprenticeships is still quite limited.Getting a degree one is hard too,you need very good a level grades and a degree of luck.
For a level alternatives you are dependent on where you live as transport is an issue and many are not really well set up with no clear training pathway.

My year 10 son is aiming to do an apprenticeship after finishing school so it's something we've been researching recently, and I was surprised that theres more than just the trades skills that were about when I was leaving school. Its definitely something I'm encouraging him to do

Is it harder to get an apprenticeship than to get a College place because of the need to get the employer to hire you?

My 14 year old is probably more suited to an apprenticeship than a degree, I definitely need to do more research though as I don’t know much about them.

I Have 2 teenagers. One is suited to academia so will go to university, the other is not interested as much in academics so we will def look into apprenticeships for dc2.

There doesn’t seem to be many degree apprenticeships out there and i’m concerned that employers don’t value them. My DS is very academic but I don’t want him saddled with a 50k debt when he leaves

I have a friend whose son is doing a degree apprenticeship.
He's only a term in but they seem pretty pleased so far.
It will take 5 years not 3 but he will come out with 5 years experience and savings, rather than work experience only and debt.

It's a pity the survey was so limited.

I think apprenticeships are a great idea but good quality, high level apprenticeships have limited availability. We also live in a rural area which limits choice further.

If my dc wanted to do one, my main concerns would be around ensuring they chose the right level to allow them to access the appropriate degree/professional standards.

I don't know enough myself and only anecdotal details from a couple of friends with older children who are completing apprenticeships.
My son wants to go to Uni and his course is not an apprenticeship type anyway. I need more information for my daughter who may prefer the apprenticeship route in a few years, currently I wouldn't encourage her though.

One of the problem for apprenticeships at 16 / 18 in more rural areas is actually getting there.

Colleges have buses that go there, random places of work don't.

If the young person can't drive / afford a car yet, it cuts down on where they can get to. The best thing we did for DD1 whilst she was at college was teach her to drive.

.. and the transport cost can basically eat up all the nominal wages.

Completed. My reason for having high confidence/low concern is because my employer runs apprenticeships (civil service). I think without that inside knowledge I would have higher level of concern

Completed. My reason for having low confidence / high concern is that in todays world of needing job flexibility I fear apprenticeships can be too narrow in their training.

voddie Can you explain what you mean by 'too narrow'? I'd have thought an apprenticeship would give a much wider range of practical experience than just a college course or degree?

My DD has received her offers (well 2 so far) and she was thinking about an Apprenticeship.

But she will have a long enough course anyway , if she goes through the University Degree route , yes she'll be £29,000+ in debt but she'll get there quicker .

Finding Work Experience/Shadowing is hard enough

So University is the way forward

I think there need to be stricter rules. My nephew spend a year sorting t-shirts and was paid less than minimum wage for that. He did not learn a thing.

I think the government needs to take a good look at countries like Germany with well-established and highly regarded apprenticeship systems and see how and why they work so well.

Teen this is the way I see it but admittedly only through my own and my DS' experience. He wants to go into engineering and plans to go down the university route, which when qualified will allow him to have a choice of many career paths. If he chooses a path and it doesn't work out he can always go back to his basic engineering skills and specialise in another pathway. But if he choose the more specific pathway like the one he has his sights on for the future at the moment, automotive engineering, to do an apprenticeship in that could hem him into just that area of engineering. Well that's our (mine, DP and DS) opinions after much discussion and it feels right for us

Done

voddie That makes sense.

Yolande What qualification was that your nephew was working towards?

I think there might be a difference between apprenticeships working towards a 'required qualification' (such as Early Years Educator or a Accountancy) and those where you could work in the industry with no direct qualification (e.g. Retail or Hospitality?)

Done