Best apprentices earn £50,000 more than many graduates

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drummer
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Best apprentices earn £50,000 more than many graduates

Post by drummer »

http://www.suttontrust.com/newsarchive/ ... graduates/

Category: Press releases Author: Sutton Trust
Posted on: October 9, 2015
The best apprentices – those with a level 5 qualification – will earn £50,000 more in their lifetime than someone with an undergraduate degree from a university outside of the Russell Group, taking home close to £1.5m over their career.

The new calculation by the Boston Consulting Group is revealed in Levels of Success: The Potential of UK Apprenticeships, a new report published today by the Sutton Trust that looks at the apprenticeship landscape in the UK. The calculation factors in the cost of going to university, including average student debt levels, compared with the ability of apprentices to earn while learning. Those going to Russell Group universities can expect lifetime earnings of almost £1.6m, according to the BCG calculation.

Although today’s report shows that the best apprenticeships offer similar financial security as an undergraduate degree, it warns that the sector needs serious change if apprenticeships are to fulfil their potential as a vehicle for social mobility.

In the current system, the majority of apprenticeships (60%) are set only at GCSE standard (level 2), too many of which offer little value beyond traditional work experience placements and only marginally better lifetime earnings than secondary school qualifications alone. The government plans to create 3 million apprenticeships by 2020, but over the last two years, there have only been an estimated 30,000 higher apprenticeships and the fear is that too many of the new apprenticeships will only be at level 2.

New ComRes polling in today’s report demonstrates how opinions of apprenticeships as ‘second-best’ to a university education appeared to be ingrained in UK culture. Four out of five (80 %) of the young people surveyed – who said they were more likely to go to university or higher education than start an apprenticeship – said they thought getting a degree would be better for their long term career prospects.

This perception extends to teachers and parents too: previous Sutton Trust polling found that 65% of secondary school teachers would rarely or never advise a student to take an apprenticeship if they had the grades for university, and according to the Commission on Apprenticeships barely a third of parents think that an apprenticeship would be the best option for their son or daughter.

Because apprenticeships are particularly popular with those from less advantaged backgrounds, the failure to provide higher standards affects this group more. To make sure that apprenticeships fulfil their potential as a social mobility vehicle, the Sutton Trust is recommending that:

Government, employers and other providers work together to provide more apprenticeships at level 3 or above;
Level 2 (intermediate) apprenticeships need to be improved so that level 3 (A-level standard) becomes the norm for young people and all those who start on level 2 have the chance to progress to level 3 within the same apprenticeship;
The government’s Career and Enterprise Company should promote apprenticeships, as well as university degrees, in their work with schools on careers advice;
The government should launch a much bigger apprenticeships awareness campaign to reach young people, parents and teachers;
The government should reform the vocational qualification system and ensure that regulation of higher apprenticeships is fit for purpose.
With research from Oliver Wyman, the report also looks at a sample of those apprentices enrolled in some of the UK’s top apprenticeship schemes, a disproportionately high number seem to have attended schools with higher levels of progression to Russell Group universities and lower levels of students receiving free school meals.

Today’s report follows HEFCE analysis last week showing that one in five graduates were not in professional jobs three and a half years after graduation, and Sutton Trust research last December showing the different earnings by subject in different types of university.

Sir Peter Lampl, Chairman of the Sutton Trust and of the Education Endowment Foundation, said today:

“Today’s report shows that the best apprenticeships offer similar financial security as an undergraduate degree. Although the Government’s target for apprenticeships to 2020 is three million, we’ve only had 30,000 higher apprenticeships in the last two years. We need more good apprenticeships to offer genuine alternatives to A-levels and degrees. We also need to tackle the ingrained negative culture of apprenticeships that exists amongst teachers, parents and young people alike.”

Alice Roberts, 21, apprentice at Jaguar Land Rover, said:

“I think apprenticeships offer lots of advantages over the traditional degree route: you can earn while you learn, receive training tailored to the job you’ll have when you finish, and apply the skills and knowledge learnt at university to real life situations.”

For further information or to arrange an interview, please contact: Hilary Cornwell or Conor Ryan on 0207 802 1660.
Proud_Dad
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Joined: Fri Oct 11, 2013 9:55 am

Re: Best apprentices earn £50,000 more than many graduates

Post by Proud_Dad »

Becoming an apprentice is not easy though.

You'll be expected to join a bunch of overly confident numbskulls to take part in a series of ridiculous business tasks failure at which will result in you being humiliated and insulted by a pompous chairman and his smug cronies.
drummer
Posts: 529
Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2007 5:47 pm
Location: South Bucks

Re: Best apprentices earn £50,000 more than many graduates

Post by drummer »

:? err, bitter experience Proud_Dad??
Yamin151
Posts: 2405
Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2013 8:30 am

Re: Best apprentices earn £50,000 more than many graduates

Post by Yamin151 »

Proud_Dad wrote:Becoming an apprentice is not easy though.

You'll be expected to join a bunch of overly confident numbskulls to take part in a series of ridiculous business tasks failure at which will result in you being humiliated and insulted by a pompous chairman and his smug cronies.

:) :lol:

Very good!

Seriously though, 50k over a lifetime is only about £1000 per year! Not that big a difference. Great to see the parity and I'm all for apprenticeships. Valuable and worthwhile ones should be promoted at GS just as much as non GS, simply as an alternative and valuable path. Not a sparkling difference in income though, so not really a selling point I wouldn't think. Possibly surprising though
Proud_Dad
Posts: 500
Joined: Fri Oct 11, 2013 9:55 am

Re: Best apprentices earn £50,000 more than many graduates

Post by Proud_Dad »

drummer wrote::? err, bitter experience Proud_Dad??
Yeah, I was fired! :cry:

I still thanked them for the opportunity though. :D
Sally-Anne
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Location: Buckinghamshire

Re: Best apprentices earn £50,000 more than many graduates

Post by Sally-Anne »

drummer wrote::? err, bitter experience Proud_Dad??
Drummer, I think you need to take a spoonful of Sugar with Proud Dad's post, and possibly a pinch of salt. :wink:
drummer
Posts: 529
Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2007 5:47 pm
Location: South Bucks

Re: Best apprentices earn £50,000 more than many graduates

Post by drummer »

Sally-Anne wrote:
drummer wrote::? err, bitter experience Proud_Dad??
Drummer, I think you need to take a spoonful of Sugar with Proud Dad's post, and possibly a pinch of salt. :wink:
Don't worry Sally Anne, sugar and salt were liberally applied, I just failed to employ the appropriate emojis before I pressed send :D
Sally-Anne
Posts: 9235
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:10 pm
Location: Buckinghamshire

Re: Best apprentices earn £50,000 more than many graduates

Post by Sally-Anne »

Jolly good! :lol:
Guest55
Posts: 16254
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: Best apprentices earn £50,000 more than many graduates

Post by Guest55 »

I think RG unis are not always giving students the right input for the current job market in industry.

Many don't offer a year in industry or use the industry standard software in the field.
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