Route 18.
· For the grown-ups

A note for parents

Worth reading together. Most families I speak to have exactly these questions.

University isn't what it used to be. A degree on its own has been diluted in value, and experience is now what employers look for most. Choosing the apprenticeship route was the best decision I ever made. The things I've been exposed to are things most students couldn't imagine.

Your child won't be thrown in at the deep end, either. The companies running these schemes are set up for young talent, and they're genuinely nurturing places to start a career. Most have a dedicated early careers team whose whole job is apprentices' personal and professional development.

Yes. On a Level 6 degree apprenticeship your child studies with a university alongside their job and graduates with a bachelor's degree. Level 7 routes go further, to master's level or a professional qualification such as chartered accountancy.
The employer, with government funding. There are no tuition fees and no student loan, and your child earns a salary from day one.
They won't get the traditional version. But they tend to join with a cohort of graduates and apprentices, so they get a similar experience in that sense. They'll also have money that lets them enjoy things most people their age can't afford, and a network most won't build for years.
These schemes are competitive, and rejections are part of the process for everyone. Applying to at least 20 schemes, balanced across reach, target and safer, gives them the best chance. Offers are never guaranteed, so it's worth talking as a family about what happens if one doesn't come. Uni as a back-up is never a bad idea.
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