The young Britons ditching debt-laden degrees for lucrative salaries
Not long ago, going to university was understood to be a golden ticket – and for many, the only available option.
But with the prospect of taking on at least £27,000 of debt, more young people are now questioning the value of degrees and the university experience as a whole.
Instead they are seeking out alternatives. Many are now considering apprenticeships over the “traditional” university route, according to Ucas, with 59pc of people in school years nine to 12 weighing up both options. The number of people searching for apprenticeships on Ucas increased by 62.4pc compared to last year.
Instead of loading up with debt, apprentices get paid to learn and quickly dive in to hands-on, practical work. Some apprenticeships, such as engineering and construction, promise higher salaries after five years than their graduate counterparts.
Apprenticeships, once mainly linked to manual trades, can now be found in almost every profession. Here, we meet four young adults who have chosen to do an apprenticeship and never looked back – from law to healthcare.
‘Firms don’t want just another cardboard cut-out law student’
Noah Lloyd, trainee solicitor
Noah, 21, decided to follow a career path in law – but was not keen about studying it at a degree level. They were disillusioned with how the subject is taught at university, with lectures regularly held online and limited office hours with professors.
“I’d spoken to people doing law at university and found that a lot of it is theoretical and, because a lot of our precedents are now rather old, they don’t always reflect how law is practised day to day,” they say.
Noah, from Birmingham, is now halfway through their level seven, six-year degree apprenticeship at FBC Manby Bowdler Solicitors in Shrewsbury; upon completing the course they will be a fully-qualified solicitor.
“I thought I’d be able to get some practical experience of what law is actually like to be practised,” they say. “[I also wanted to] get more information about how law firms work commercially, which is obviously a really important part [of being] a solicitor which you don’t always get going through university.”
Learning on the job in an apprenticeship means that Noah has many more opportunities to learn from colleagues.
“I have access to such a wealth of knowledge and experience. I sit in an open-plan office next to a newly-qualified junior solicitor who also took the apprenticeship route, and we have two equity partners...They’re always there to answer questions whenever they can,” they say.
Noah warns, however, that becoming a lawyer via an apprenticeship shouldn’t be taken lightly, and applicants must be aware of the level of commitment.
When it comes to the application process, know your value and what you can bring to a team, and don’t become too consumed with the academic side of law, advises Noah.
“At 18, you’re going into an office to interact with other people of different ages and it’s really important to firms that they employ people with the right people skills, those who are able to bring something to the workplace and aren’t just another cardboard cut-out law student.”
‘I hated being in classrooms – I needed to be learning skills’
Fabian Ali, plumbing and gas engineer
After leaving school at 16, Fabian, 22, trained as a plumbing and gas engineer. After completing work experience in plumbing he fell in love with the trade – university was never a consideration for him.
“I really hated being in classrooms. I struggled to concentrate a lot just sitting there. I felt I needed to be doing something where I was learning skills as a tool for life and a specific job,” he says.
Fabian recalls there being little support during the application process from his school and noticed that teachers paid less attention to those who weren’t performing as well academically.
“It certainly felt like the message they were pushing was that to get the best out of life, you had to go to university. A lot of our assemblies were about going to top-grade universities and there was nothing on apprenticeships,” he says.
Keen to work locally, he remembers there being no mention of any local employers who might be good to work for.
“I was very stressed having no idea what I was going to head into after leaving school,” he says.
Fabian notes that manual labour apprenticeships like plumbing don’t just close you off to one profession.
“There’s so many different roles that you don’t think about. There’s people that fit the kitchens, carpet fitters and the people who put the granite in, for example. There’s also commercial plumbing, and the engineering and innovation aspect of it all, like bringing out new products.
“So if you’re qualified in plumbing but want to move into an office role, there’s those routes that are available,” he says.
‘Shunning university was the best decision I’ve ever made’
Aisha Caunhye, design engineer with Virgin Media O2
Aisha Caunhye describes herself as being “academic” during school and was accepted into a top university to study law. But the 19-year-old Londoner decided to pursue an apprenticeship instead.
She now works as a design engineer for Virgin Media O2, studying project management and being paid to learn on the job. The 18-month course will provide her with an APM qualification.
“It’s genuinely the best decision I’ve ever made,” she says.
Unsure whether to accept her offer to study law at university, Aisha felt project management would provide her with more transferable skills.
“Law is very specialised and I wanted to go for something that could open up a lot more avenues because I wasn’t entirely sure on that path. I’m not the type of person that has a dream career and I think a lot of young people are like that.”
She adds: “Having a degree is becoming something more of a standard rather than something individualistic.”
Aisha feels her decision has put her “one step ahead” of her peers, both financially and in gaining hands-on skills.
“An employer might value the fact I have both a qualification and work experience compared to somebody who’s fresh out of university. That’s not to say that going to university or doing an apprenticeship is better than the other – I just think that nowadays employers are looking for people that have experience and qualifications, rather than just learning in the classroom.”
She also notes that if she’d chosen university, she’d have accumulated £27,000 in debt so far and is happy to be earning a salary already.
“Let’s not lie, the money side is great,” she says.
However, Aisha notes the route was a lifestyle she never envisioned for herself. One of the downsides is that socialising as a young person in the workplace can be challenging, and that many apprentices find the journey lonely.
“At first I felt quite secluded,” she says. “But I did some research and found there are lots of apprenticeship communities set up by other communities – some that are social and others which offer support.”
She struggled with the application process and thinks applying for university is an easier experience.
“Researching apprenticeships was so difficult,” she adds. “Firstly, finding where to even look and then specifically, finding out that there are more than one type of apprenticeship which I didn’t even know at the time. It was quite a different experience and I felt kind of lonely. It was a difficult process, but 100pc worth it.”
‘I quit university to get hands-on experience’
Charlie Laycock, radiographer
Charlie Laycock initially studied biomedical engineering at the University of Southampton, beginning in 2017. However, when his course was affected by Covid – shutting the labs and removing the much-valued practical element of the course – he no longer felt it was the correct route for him and quit.
In 2022, the 25-year-old from Warminster in Wiltshire joined Plus Practice Hospital Group in Shepton Mallet as an apprentice radiographer, a profession he has been interested in since school. Upon completing the three-year course, Charlie will qualify with a bachelor’s degree in diagnostic radiography.
When he was at university, instead of carrying out experiments in labs, they were simulated online.
“I thought if we were just doing practical work online then why pay the university for this,” he explains.
By contrast, his apprenticeship is packed with hands-on experience. On a Monday, he may learn how to position a patient to X-ray a body part, then he will spend the Tuesday to Friday practically carrying out the procedure and critiquing his images.
“The largest difference is seeing how our learning actually gets put into action within the job,” Charlie says.
If he could go back to 2017, he would have applied for an apprenticeship over university, and recommends the route specifically for jobs in healthcare.
“Radiography is such a practical job and I was more interested in the amount of clinical time I’d be spending in the role over sitting in lectures. Having colleagues who have gone through the same courses I have and know how it all works is so helpful, too.”
