There are too few of them and their public image remains poor but apprenticeships can be a worthy alternative to university for young people, says Karleen Dowden.

Real-life learning

The government’s plan to make it the norm for young people to go into an apprenticeship or to university – or, in the case of some Higher Apprenticeships (HAs), do both – is a welcome recognition of the need for more than one well-regarded progression route for young people.

The much-awaited apprenticeship implementation plan, published in October, sets out how apprenticeships will be developed, undertaken and assessed in future. It is a major overhaul of apprenticeship frameworks, as recommended in The Richard Review of Apprenticeships published in November 2012, but it will only be deemed a success if it rebrands apprenticeships as a desired, valued and high-status entry route to employment.

There are a number of issues surrounding apprenticeships. Young people and their parents may be unaware that they exist or may not regard them as credible post-16 options. But even those who do want to take the apprenticeship route find that quality schemes are in short supply. Young people face more competition getting on an apprenticeship than they do getting into the University of Oxford, according to research, with some apprenticeships attracting five applications per place compared with the average of four received by Oxford colleges. The Sutton Trust, a charity that focuses on social mobility, has reported that the UK would need to create from 150,000 to 300,000 quality apprenticeships each year to tackle significant skill shortages.

Raising the status of apprenticeships will largely depend on raising their quality and reputation. They can, and should, be a powerful tool to address high youth unemployment and to support a more dynamic economy. However, in England, apprenticeships at Level 2 far outnumber advanced apprenticeships at Level 3, which reinforces the perception of them as qualifications more suited to those who do not have the entry requirements to secure a place at university.

Schools play a key role in providing young people with quality information, advice and guidance on apprenticeships, including promoting their benefits. Instant practical steps that can be taken include providing students with access to up-to-date and accurate labour market information, alongside teaching them how to use and interpret such data so they can identify potential career paths.

The National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) website (www. apprenticeships.org.uk) is a useful resource both for students considering apprenticeships and teachers, who can utilise the free teaching materials. It is well worth schools adding the link to their website and intranet to help students find the resource easily.

Exposing students to real-life apprentices and successful individuals who began as apprentices are not only powerful ways of raising student aspirations but also excellent ways to provide students with information, advice and guidance on apprenticeship progression routes. Inspiring the Future (www.inspiringthefuture.org) is a free, web-based service that matches to schools volunteers who can deliver a diverse range of sessions as part of schools’ careers education programmes.

Putting the above quick-wins aside, a more strategic approach is needed in order to meet schools’ statutory duty to provide impartial and independent information, advice and guidance and also to embed an effective careers education programme into the curriculum.

If it were as simple as schools promoting apprenticeships as valuable and credible progression routes that have equal status to traditional academic routes such as higher education (HE), the battle would almost be won. But it is not. It is a pointless exercise for schools to carry out their professional and ethical duty to inform students about apprenticeships if the apprenticeships are not available for students to undertake.

Secure jobs

Employers need to commit to offering good-quality apprenticeships that offer secure jobs at the end. According to research for the Sutton Trust, of the 240,000 new apprenticeships created in the past two years, 75 per cent went to people aged over 25 who were already employed.

Current funding incentives push students towards the academic A level path, resulting in about one-third of young people dropping out, whereas many of those who drop out would have had much better prospects in apprenticeships. Social mobility has previously focused too intensely on progression to higher education and the 50 per cent participation in higher education target, set by the previous government, has resulted in a surplus of graduates possessing qualifications and skills that are not demanded by employers.

The challenge, of course, is not to deter young people from progressing into higher education but to recognise that a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach is not conducive to ensuring that all young people fulfil their full potential.

I don’t believe that many school leaders would argue against the fact that one of the key outcomes they strive for is for every young person who passes through their care to pursue a meaningful and fulfilling career that matches their skills and aspirations. For many, it may be that apprenticeships provide the vehicle to turn those aspirations into reality.

• Karleen Dowden is ASCL’s Apprenticeship, Employability and Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) Specialist

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