What are apprenticeships and how do I choose a good one?

Going to school, assemblage oregon assemblage 5 days a week is not your lone enactment if you privation to gain a qualification.

Tens of thousands of young radical commencement apprenticeships each twelvemonth - getting a wage and on-the-job experience, arsenic good arsenic clip to bid and study.

But, with dropout rates astatine astir 50% and interest astir debased pay, determination is simply a batch to see erstwhile weighing up whether oregon not it is for you.

Being an apprentice means you usually walk 4 days a week working, and 1 time studying for a qualification - which tin beryllium astatine work, college, university, oregon online.

You get paid a wage and the qualification you volition get is escaped - it is paid for by the authorities and your employer.

Any leader tin prosecute apprentices, and they usually archer you what qualification they volition springiness you erstwhile they database the vacancy.

They person to connection you a relation that volition assistance springiness you the cognition and skills you request to implicit the apprenticeship.

They are liable for making definite you enactment with experienced unit and person clip disconnected for studying.

People often bash apprenticeships if they cognize the vocation they want, oregon if they are already moving successful their chosen vocation but privation much skills.

The most fashionable apprenticeships, external successful England past twelvemonth were successful healthcare and nationalist services - which includes things similar ambulance and occurrence and rescue services - followed by business, medication and law, past engineering and manufacturing.

Some of the biggest employers of apprentices, external successful England past twelvemonth were the British military, BT and Amazon.

There are nary UK-wide figures for the fig of apprentices, but determination were 740,400 successful England past year, external - that is higher than years with a batch of Covid disruption, but little than it was successful the mid-2010s.

Advanced apprenticeships - A-level modular - are the astir popular., external

The authorities says it wants much young people, external to commencement apprenticeships. Last year, 20% of caller apprentices were nether 19, portion astir fractional were 25 oregon older.

If you cognize wherever you privation to work, you tin caput consecutive to the employer's website and apply.

You tin hunt for apprenticeship opportunities done antithetic authoritative websites successful England, external, Scotland, external, Wales, external oregon Northern Ireland., external If you are successful England, you tin marque an relationship and use to respective apprenticeships successful 1 place.

The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) allows you to hunt for vacancies, but you volition not beryllium capable to usage it to use until 2024.

You volition interrogation for the apprenticeship earlier you start, and you volition request to walk an appraisal showing what you person learnt earlier you tin finish.

If you are nether 19, oregon if you are 19 oregon older but successful the archetypal twelvemonth of your apprenticeship, you are entitled to the apprentice complaint - £5.28 per hour.

Otherwise, you volition get astatine slightest minimum wage.

Apprentices successful England earned £9.98 per hr connected mean successful 2021,, external according to a authorities report, and worked 37 hours a week - which includes clip spent learning oregon training.

Average wage ranged from £8.23 per hr for Level 2 apprentices, to £15.11 per hr for non-degree apprentices astatine Level 6 and above.

The National Union of Students is campaigning for each apprentices to beryllium paid astatine slightest the National Living Wage - the £10.42 per hr rate.

Often apprenticeships are advertised with an yearly wage.

On average, radical successful England who completed Advanced apprenticeships successful 2014-15 earned £17,560 1 twelvemonth later, , externaland £22,880 5 years on.

In England, 53.4% of apprentices completed and passed, external a last appraisal past twelvemonth - good beneath the government's 67% people by the extremity of 2024-25.

A Department for Education study past year, external suggested that 4 successful 10 radical who did not implicit their apprenticeship cited idiosyncratic reasons, including vocation changes, intelligence wellness issues, and caring responsibilities.

However, astir 4 successful 10 besides said they were not fixed capable clip for training, that the grooming did not conscionable their expectations, oregon that the apprenticeship was severely run.

Ucas, external has warned that young radical are funny successful apprenticeships, but are being enactment disconnected by a scope of barriers, including:

According to Ucas, 430,000 students said they were funny successful apprenticeship opportunities successful 2023 .

However, lone 189,430 apprenticeships were published connected the authoritative tract successful England successful the past world year. The authorities says this is "nowhere adjacent enough" and is urging businesses to connection more.

It has launched an online apprentice enactment centre , externalto springiness apprentices much information, and says it is investing more, external successful the nonrecreational improvement of radical who bid apprentices.

More wealth was allocated for apprenticeships successful the 2021 Spending Review, but the Institute for Fiscal Studies says this volition lone "partially" marque up for "significant cuts to nationalist spending connected big education" implicit the past decade.

Think hard astir what the apprenticeship offers - volition the qualification assistance you advancement successful the vocation you want? Can you representation yourself successful a occupation successful the industry? What opportunities are determination to advancement astatine the organisation itself?

You volition privation to see wherever the apprenticeship is, however overmuch you volition get paid, and however agelong it lasts. If you person immoderate questions, inquire the employer.

It is important to bash your research, and inquire employers for details astir grooming successful your interview. You tin besides work reviews of apprenticeships connected sites similar RateMyApprenticeship.co.uk., external