How did we start the journey to apprenticeship
My son’s business studies teacher had mentioned apprenticeships when he was doing his GCSEs and early in Year 12 they had a guest speaker from IBM who had entered the business via an apprenticeship scheme – and so the seed was sown. Studying for a professional career whilst earning money and not incurring student debt really appealed to him, as he was keen to move on from classroom learning to being part of a business. Although he would still need to study in his own time and take exams and assessments, he felt this was the right path for him and so we set about finding more about it. Apprenticeship employers give you time off to study for your exams and on some courses (e.g. Degree Apprenticeships) you have one day a week at university.
Not long after this first introduction, Middlesex University held an evening on apprenticeships and he went along to gather information. There were various speakers and stalls covering many different career options, but the two that were the most useful at the very beginning of our journey were BDO and Young Professionals.
We downloaded Young Professionals App and looked at the long list of companies and organisations that take apprentices and what type of business they are. We didn’t get much further than this with the app, although there are a few useful posts to read regarding apprenticeships. This was the very start of a lot of research and list making.
BBC Bitesize has an interesting article on Apprenticeships – https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/z2xrcmn
There is also great advice and resources on the Youth Employment website https://www.youthemployment.org.uk/complete-guide-higher-degree-apprenticeships/
and also on Not Going to Uni – https://www.notgoingtouni.co.uk/
and also https://www.ratemyapprenticeship.co.uk
The aim of this blog is to pass on the knowledge we have acquired though our own experience of finding and applying for apprenticeships.
https://young-professionals.uk/
This article was recently in Metro explaining how large company apprenticeships are being chosen by pupils over university and why – https://metro.co.uk/2022/08/17/uk-star-students-snub-top-universities-for-paid-apprenticeships-17194787/
Apprenticeships UK 