What is an apprenticeship?

Apprenticeships may well be the flavour of the moment, but they are not a new idea. In fact, apprenticeships hark back to Medieval Times. Craftsmen would take on young men (14 -21 years) offering them a free training in exchange for basic food and lodgings. An apprentice would be tied to their employer for several years during which they would learn as much as they were able to become a qualified craftsman themselves. During the Industrial Revolution, the concept was abolished, and it was not until the 1960s that it re-emerged in the UK.

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Apprenticeship Reviews

We have begun to create independent reviews of apprenticeship programmes (really getting under the skin of organisations to see how they tick in terms of their current and future apprenticeships offers), to give teachers, careers advisers, parents and pupils a reliable and insightful view of what each apprenticeship offers, in the short and in the long term, and of who it suits.

Please take a look at them here, and let us know what you think.

Frequently asked questions

Apprenticeships are not all alike. Top of the range Degree Apprenticeships are as good as a university degree. Below that are Apprenticeships that offer a wide range of practical and theoretical training, which are well respected in the industries they serve. And then there are others that do not amount to much at all. All the employers in our Apprenticeship Reviews offer high-class Apprenticeships – ones that can form the foundation of a fine career.

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Traineeships

To help students qualify for apprenticeship schemes the government have introduced these short traineeship programs, a combination of work experience and learning. 

A trainee program will also help anyone who wants to enter an apprenticeship scheme gain the necessary requirements of basic English or Maths qualifications. 

Traineeships are work placements can that last from 6 weeks to 6 months.

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Engineering apprenticeship interviews

Apprenticeship interview: building spacecraft

Building spacecraft is one of those careers that even little kids dream of. No wonder Amy Palmer grins from ear to ear when she talks about her apprenticeship, which focuses on constructing satellites – earth observation satellites, navigation satellites and weather satellites among them.

Apprenticeship interview: civil engineering

Like anyone doing a degree apprenticeship, Tyrone Upton is able to earn while he learns. ‘I’ve been able to afford to move out of home and get a place on my own in London, which just wouldn’t have been possible if I’d gone straight to university full-time,’ he says.

Apprenticeship interview: electrical and electronic engineering

Matthew realised long ago that he’s a kinaesthetic learner. ‘I’m so much better at learning through doing rather than sitting listening to lectures. So I knew I’d be well suited to both engineering and an apprenticeship as the means to gain the necessary qualifications.’

Apprenticeship interview: marine

‘University wasn’t for me,’ says Ryan Acres, despite it being his original plan. ‘I left school at 16 to go to college to do a BTech in sport with the sole aim of going straight onto university, but I quit my degree after about two months,’ he says. ‘I’d taken a gap year and got a taste for earning money. I started to worry about getting into debt and if I’m honest, I wasn’t suited to the intensive academic learning.’

Apprenticeship interview: meterology

Like many 16-year-olds, Carter Murphy left school not having a clue what he wanted to do with his life. ‘I had the option to stay on and do A’levels, but to be honest, I’d had enough of school,’ he says.

Degree apprenticeships

CLICK HERE FOR DEGREE APPRENTICESHIP HANDBOOK

A degree apprenticeship is a vocational and practical qualification that results in students receiving a high-class degree and three years of real life, real workplace training. 

For the last thirty years, a degree has been viewed as being virtually the only pathway to a high-level level managerial career. In fact, many employers demand a 2.1 or above before they will even consider looking at a CV, essentially creating an internal triage system to sift through the thousands of applicants they will have. But the cost of a well-balanced education at almost any university in the UK is high, with many students leaving university with debt of around £40,000 + living costs. Until 2015, there was no way to get a degree minus the debt, but the government has realised that the cost is a serious barrier for many young people. read more