Young people have misconceptions about apprenticeships, reveals study

Young people have misconceptions about apprenticeships as a result of not receiving proper information from schools and colleges, according to a survey by Prudential.

The survey of 16 to 18 year olds showed that many school leavers avoid apprenticeships because they see them as low-paid, low-skilled jobs, when in fact they are highly beneficial.

The survey found that over 80 per cent of teenagers believe that apprentices are paid an average of £200 a week, when the typical weekly earnings for apprentices are actually £257.

One in ten teenagers also believe that apprenticeship programmes do not offer the opportunity to gain qualifications, when many programmes actually do.

Best start

The research comes just as National Apprenticeship Week starts. Many of Britain’s biggest companies are offering young people paid trainee roles to mark the event, which will run until Friday 18 March.

For this year’s event, the National Apprenticeship Service is encouraging companies to list their jobs on a “Pledge-o-meter” website, which currently has over 7,000 pledges.

Amongst the companies offering apprenticeships to young people this year are pub retailer, Greene King, and London-based catering company, Compass Group.

Apprenticeship “delivery board” Chair, David Meller, said that now is the time for young people to start considering apprenticeships.

“Some of the country’s top employers are now offering work apprenticeships, traineeships and work experience to help give young people the best start,” he said.

New apprenticeships

The surge in apprenticeships comes as Chancellor George Osborne plans to introduce an apprenticeship levy from April 2017 to fund three billion new apprenticeships by 2020.

Last year, 23,000 jobs were pledged by companies such as Halfords, Microsoft and BT for National Apprenticeship Week. Policymakers are hoping that the number of jobs created during National Apprenticeship Week 2016 will beat last year’s record.