We’ve recently celebrated National Apprenticeship Week and saw the Annual Apprenticeship Conference 2016 take place. Apprenticeships are still at the forefront of the education sector, but are perceptions of the programmes improving outside of the sector?
Apprenticeships have long been perceived as a secondary route for young people to take in their education, particularly in comparison to A Levels or university. One of the key Ofsted Annual Report 2014-15 findings was that some schools and colleges weren’t promoting Apprenticeships equally, with many still pushing university as the default route. We’ve also seen anecdotal evidence to suggest that parents have been inclined to think the same way, and it’s often down to a lack of information on Apprenticeships.
NCFE commissioned research to find out what parents think of Apprenticeships, and how they’d feel if their child undertook one. The results were pleasantly surprising, and it looks like there is a real shift in attitudes when it comes to Apprenticeships and vocational learning.
68% of parents think Apprenticeships are an excellent way to earn and learn, and similarly 62% believe that university doesn’t suit everyone. This is significantly different from the results from a 2013 survey carried out by the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT), which showed that a similar percentage of parents (63%) didn’t understand Apprenticeships well enough to explain them to their children.
Previously, only a third of parents knew that MPs’ offices also hired apprentices, with many believing Apprenticeships were only available for careers in manual labour, like construction. We hope these statistics show not only that attitudes towards Apprenticeships are changing for the better, but also that there’s a better understanding amongst parents of Apprenticeships and the value they bring to learners.
University’s reputation as the best route for young people to gain a respected, well-paid job appears to be slipping; 41% of parents think degrees aren’t as valuable as they once were, and only 11% believe their children need to go to university to compete in the jobs market. It’s refreshing to see that university is no longer perceived as the only route to success, particularly in light of the news that over half of graduates are in non-graduate roles. Furthermore, figures released last year showed that 7% of the 2013-2014 cohort of university leavers were unemployed 6 months after finishing their degree.
In the past, parents have often underestimated the earning potential of apprentices; the 2013 AAT survey showed that 73% didn’t realise how much Apprenticeships could boost their child’s income (learners undertaking Higher Apprenticeships can earn £150,000 more than university graduates). Now only 9% of parents believe Apprenticeships will lead to low paid and low skilled jobs, and an even lower 7% think an Apprenticeship will slow down the career progression of their child. In contrast, 47% would be proud if their son or daughter entered a vocational trade.
Only 11% of parents surveyed were encouraged to do an Apprenticeship, showing that the vocational route has long been considered a secondary, or even last, option. Only around a quarter (23%) believe that schools and colleges push university as the best option; this suggests parents might not be fully aware of the options presented to their children at school or college, as university is still promoted by many as the default route.
The most positive feedback came from parents aged 45+, which is encouraging to see because this group was the least likely to be encouraged to pursue an Apprenticeship as a teenager. Twice as many parents in the upper age brackets (45-55 and 55+) think the government should be doing more to promote Apprenticeships than younger parents. Younger parents, however, were the most likely to be encouraged to go to university, so we can’t rest on our laurels.
We were pleased with the results from our survey, and it really does seem as if parents understand the value of Apprenticeships. In comparison to the AAT survey carried out only 3 years ago, these responses show how much attitudes have improved in a short space of time. We think it’s about time learners were aware of all of the options available to them when leaving school or college, so that they can truly fulfil their potential.
You can see an infographic here containing the key results from our survey.
What do you think about the results of our survey? Are you surprised?
