Has your child decided to take a different route and not go to university on a full time basis? Tell the National Apprenticeship Service about your experience. £300 voucher to be won! NOW CLOSED

[PoppyMumsnet]

Figuring out whether your DC wants to go to university or not can be a stressful period for both parents and DCs alike. If your child has decided not to go to uni full time, it’s often hard to know what other options are out there. The National Apprenticeship Service, which is part of the Department for Education, wants to hear about Mumsnetters’ experiences of finding alternatives to uni. They want to know whether you’ve heard of the different apprenticeships options and whether they’re appealing to you and your DCs.

Here’s what the National Apprenticeship Service has to say on apprenticeships:

“The government has stated that all young people must stay in some sort of education or training until at least their 18th birthday. This does not necessarily mean staying in school. Young people have a choice about how they continue in education or training post 16. One of these choices could be an apprenticeship. An apprenticeship is a real job, with real training, meaning you can earn while you learn and gain the necessary skills and professional competencies in your chosen career. They are available to anyone over the age of 16 living in England. There are different entry requirements depending on the sector and job and can last from a minimum of one year up to five years.

At any one time, there are up to 28,000 apprenticeship vacancies available online in a variety of careers and industries across England such as the likes of Rolls-Royce, BBC, ASOS, ITV, Barclays, Airbus, IBM and Google, as well as thousands of small and medium-sized businesses.”

Here is more information from the National Apprenticeships Service about apprenticeships

They also have a partnership with The Student Room which you can access here

Here are a few questions that the National Apprenticeships Service is interested in hearing your thoughts about. Please comment on the thread below.

• If your child has decided not to go to college/university, have you been able to find out what other options are out there?
• Do you know how apprenticeships work - do you know what qualifications they give and what they pay? Please tell us about your experience.
• How difficult has it been for you to find information about apprenticeships and what types of apprenticeships are available?
• Did you know that there are degree apprenticeships?
• Did you know you can become a solicitor without going to university full time?

Everyone who posts on the thread will be entered into a prize draw and one person will win a £300 voucher.

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw!

MNHQ

Standard T&Cs apply

TDH - are you suggesting that children who don't want to go to university or aren't academically able to should be made by their parents to go because rich people's children go there?

How is that going to work?

Apprenticeships are so varied you can't lump them all together, taking that route doesn't mean a child has failed in some way. I didn't know that you could be a lawyer via apprenticeship but looked it up and see that it takes the same time to qualify if you do a law degree as it does if you have no degree at all. If you need to use a solicitor would you ask if they had a degree before hiring them?

i just perceive that there is a massive media con job going on here because essentially, too many people are going to Uni

I think I agree with this

and those in the know want to return to the old days where only the elite and moneyed classes got to go to uni and the prols did manual tasks and doffed their caps.

but not this.

I'm not convinced that all degrees are worthwhile, though I'm not going to start quoting courses. But if you only need DDE to get to a degree course (so really only just scraped the academic level below degree) then I question whether it is worth it.

However, I think that grants should be re-instated and fees reduced for able students from poorer backgrounds as I suspect those families are going to be far more risk averse about running up debt for university even if it is e.g. PPE at Oxford.

DS2 made the decision a while back that he wouldn't be attending university. It was partly due to cost, and after researching/speaking to various people he decided that he'd do just as well either going for the higher level/degree apprenticeship or even just starting work at the lowest level and working his way up. He's quite lucky in that we live in London and there are lots of companies/institutions that offer apprenticeships within a reasonable distance, so he can still live at home.
He's about to start Yr13, so will begin applying this year I guess. Everything we know has been what we've researched ourselves. His school is fixated on Uni, despite assuring us last year that they support applying for apprenticeships as much as the do Uni courses.

One thing we haven't been concerned with before I read this thread, was the pay. DS2 regards it as a cheaper and (possibly) quicker way of getting into his chosen field. Earning crap vs paying out thousands of pounds and starting his career in debt, he's okay with the crap pay, but tbh I'm anticipating getting angry on his behalf if I feel he's being exploited. I guess it's just a step up from the industries for whom unpaid internships are the norm.

I went down the apprenticeship route myself. I hated the thought of more study without pay, I went into the aerospace industry and learnt a skilled profession. I've since moved roles several times and been given the opportunity for further education. It's the best decision I ever made and earn a great chunk more than some of my uni educated friends.
When my daughter gets around to it (still a good few years yet!) I will absolutely support her in considering all options and not just the a levels and degree options.

MrsDmitri, we are also in London and I spoke in depth to reps from the BBC, Goldman Sachs, and a few others about degree apprenticeships for my son (all computer science ones). The salary for Goldman Sachs for instance is around £18,000 plus all the (very good) perks that a regular employee gets such as health insurance, pension, etc. The salary is not hugely high, but when you consider they are paying for your degree too, it really puts it in perspective. Goldman Sachs and the BBC do the degrees through Queen Mary's which is a Russell Group Uni too.

The BBC is one of the companies he's looking at Wiifitmama, although he's looking at getting into TV/Film Production. I'm sure when we originally looked at it the money was okay.

nope all three went to uni. Even with a wobble with the grades.

I clicked the apprentice gov link for my area and am not impressed: hairdressing apprenticeships & work in a shop apprenticeships aplenty. That's it? Really?

Not what my science/maths dc wants to do and very limited.

Is there a llist of national & multinational companies that offer apprenticeships?

If your child has decided not to go to college/university, have you been able to find out what other options are out there?
DS2 just finished GCSE's has an Apprenticeship which we found online on a general recruitment website. He will be doing a vocational qualification at level 3. He would not have done A levels as I believe (results out this week!) his GCSE results will be poor due to being SEN.

DS1 just received good A level results but decided not to go to Uni for now. Again, he found a trainee role on a generic recruitment website. Just started so keeping my fingers crossed

• Do you know how apprenticeships work - do you know what qualifications they give and what they pay? Please tell us about your experience.

DS2 will be working towards a level 3 qualification. He currently earns £11k plus commission. DS1 will be working towards a qualification specific to the industry he is working. He is earning £17,500k.

• How difficult has it been for you to find information about apprenticeships and what types of apprenticeships are available?

Not difficult at all if you are looking. Indeed has loads of opportunities listed (for example) for Apprenticeships.

• Did you know that there are degree apprenticeships?

Yes, I have looked into this and realise there are more ways to gain a degree whilst working which is great.

• Did you know you can become a solicitor without going to university full time?

Yes, I also see many firms of solicitors advertising for trainee lawyers who will be given opportunities to qualify in-house.

Prophet most of the science/technology/manufacturing/engineering organisations have a recruitment cycle with applications closing January-March. They then interview etc with new starters joining in September. So recruiters like MOD, BMW, aerospace industry etc won't have any vacancies advertised at the moment.
I don't know of a central list of providers but it would be useful and indeed it might exist. Lots of companies have an apprenticeship section on thier website but it is a bit hit and miss.

Thanks TAT - will take a look

*TDH We're wealthy. I'm 'Oxbridge educated'. DD is doing an apprenticeship. We've always said work hard at school, aim high and strive to do well because education gives people more choices in life.

The trouble with setting university up as the only and best aim, is that if your child turns out to be not suited for university (as ours is not) or prefers another route, then they can perceive that as a failure. Which isn't really fair if they don't have it in them.*

This is so true. Please don't assume that because my DS's are doing Apprenticeships that we aren't successful in our own right.

DS2 struggles, DS1 doesn't feel Uni is for him for now. I am delighted we have another route to take. One which, for DS2 anyway, (DS1 only just started) is looking very positive.

Payfrozen thank you for the advice, it's much appreciated. None of my dcs are heading into the same field as me and apart from Pass Go & acquire hefty university debt, I know next to nothing about the other options to usefully steer them towards.

This thread is really timely, because I have been looking up information about apprenticeships for my middle DD. It is way too early for her yet, (she is 13) but I wanted to arm her with information about what she needs to achieve at school in order to apply for an apprenticeship: to help her focus her mind on why school is important and what she needs to achieve in her GCSEs. She has her heart set on working with animals and I thought perhaps an apprenticeship might be a good route in. I knew nothing about them before my searches, and now know a bit more.

• If your child has decided not to go to college/university, have you been able to find out what other options are out there?

Well it's a bit early to look at all options, but I have searched up the types of apprenticeship that might be available (or, as seems to be the case, not available). The search on the apprenticeship felt more like a job search rather than a careers search if I'm honest: telling me what posts are available and where, and with very different terms of service attached to them.

• Do you know how apprenticeships work - do you know what qualifications they give and what they pay? Please tell us about your experience.

As above. It seemed more like a job search: so eg an apprenticeship working for a retail firm seemed more like a very low minimum wage shop job albeit with training opportunities. Another similar post for a government agency offered what felt like a proper training scheme and a salary.

• How difficult has it been for you to find information about apprenticeships and what types of apprenticeships are available?

The site I used seemed easy to search, but I am not sure whether there are other sites - is everything centralised?

• Did you know that there are degree apprenticeships?

A bit. To be honest, my motivation to explore apprenticeships was for my middle DD for whom school is a struggle and for whom training on the job will allow her to fly (and she will, I'm sure). My eldest DD - who breezes through everything - will most likely continue with A'Levels (perhaps I should explore other options, but it seems unlikely she'd leave before taking them). My impression is that apprenticeships are really for those not wanting an 'academic' route post-16.

• Did you know you can become a solicitor without going to university full time?

Yes - but this was also true before apprenticeships - though great to be able to formally train whilst working in a solicitors.

They will want ,ney assume and expect their child to go to uni so why settle for anything less your YOUR child ??

I disagree with the implication that Apprenticeships are less than a University education. It truly depends on the field and the student, among other factors.

I have two children who have left school now, one did A-levels then went on to do on the job training as a special needs carer the other left school at 16 and went onto college to do a public service course with a view to either joining the military or the police force they are just starting the second year of training this september

After having finished school back in 1993, my husband took on a plastering apprenticeship with a local plasterer. He completed his BTec levels 1,2 and 3 at college on a block release basis. He went on to become a skilled plasterer and along with a friend, opened up a business of his own. In 2006 he tragically lost his life very suddenly leaving 4 young children. The second oldest of which has just left school. After considering all his options he has decided to persue a career in plastering. He has just started an apprenticeship, working for the company which his father set up before he died. He will be benefitting from the apprenticeship scheme and at the same time following in his late dads footsteps

I decided not to go to university despite my friends going and started as a junior in a local firm that provided day release training. Not only did I really enjoy it I have worked my way up to a really good job now unlike a lots of my friends. The college course I did day release on had several levels finishing in a part time degree so I had the same result but was getting paid and learning on the job at the same time. I don't regret it one bit.

My son is about to go into year eleven at school and will be doing his G.C.S.E's next year. He has already looked into apprenticeships after leaving school and has working towards trying to get an engineering apprenticeship with Rolls Royce who are on our doorstep. Fingers crossed! .

DD 17 left college in July after her 1 year course came to an end. She was offered a full scholarship to stay on and take her place in the 2nd year of the 3 year course that ran concurrently but has decided to leave and set up her own business.
Ds will be applying to college to do a trade. Our only hope is they do not adjust the criteria for entry into the particular college he has chosen because all but one other college around insists on having English and Maths at GCSE and ds no matter how many times he tries he is never going to get English GCSE.

I feel for you OMA - DS2 has the same issue with Maths at GCSE.

I am trying to persuade him to resit should his current Apprenticeship not work out and he needs to apply for another.

He cannot face any further Maths sessions.

I cannot make him so hope he comes to his own conclusions.

Good luck with your DS' application.

I have posted about this on another thread. Dp is one of only 5 people in the country to qualify in 2 particular professions. The first he qualified 1 year before anyone else and the other which is supposed to take 5 1/2 years to take he qualified in 1 year without a tutor just by reading the books and also holding down a full time job. He never passed English .

I wonder nowadays if people are missing out on great careers because although more than capable of doing the job or course or apprenticeship etc they are being denied at the first hurdle because they cannot pass a certain GCSE.

my daughter is 15 and is adamant she is going to uni i cant see her changing her mind, and personally i think its brilliant shes so interested :)

myself and my husband both followed the university route but feel very strongly that it's not right for everyone so we'll be encouraging our children to look at all the other options too.

Particularly because one of our sons is very 'hands on' and practical and is brilliant with things like music, cookery and arts but less so with 'academic' subjects.

It has really opened our eyes to university not being the right thing for all. Great to hear more about these other options like apprenticeships.

I had one daughter that was lucky enough to get a job when she left school at 16, but unfortunately my other daughter wanted to do the same, but had to stay further education until she reached 18. She stayed on at 6th form but really wanted to get a job like her sister. I think it's ridiculous that it's not an option anymore, she felt as though she has wasted 2 years of her life by staying on at school and has missed out on earning for 2 years.