Parents ‘favour university over apprenticeships’

Nick Elvin

The vast majority of parents support the idea of apprenticeships, although many would prefer it if their child went to university instead, a new report reveals.

The Commission on Apprenticeships study, conducted by cross-party think-tank Demos, found that 92% of parents believe apprenticeships are a good option, while 77% also feel the number of young people doing an apprenticeship should be higher than the 7% who are currently enrolled.

But despite this, only 32% of those who responded positively to apprenticeships think this would be the best option for their son/daughter, compared to 52% of parents who would rather they went to university.

Furthermore, only 19% of the 1,000 parents of 15- and 16-year-olds who were polled had been spoken to by their child’s school about apprenticeships, compared to 45% who have had a conversation about their child going to university.

The survey found parents were considerably more likely to say that apprenticeships are a good option for young people who struggle at school (86% agreed) than for those who achieve highly (57%).

Almost twice as many parents think an apprenticeship is a better route to stable employment (42% vs 22% who felt university was better), and also job satisfaction (25% vs 16%). Meanwhile, 63% of parents think university is a better route towards highly paid employment (vs 12% who said apprenticeship). More than half also said university is the best way to get to the top of a profession, while only 14% think so of an apprenticeship.

The report recommends that to increase the number of high-quality apprenticeships a ‘mutual guarantee’ should be introduced, whereby employers would pledge money towards off-the-job training in return for apprentices either completing their course or paying it back, in an effort to incentivise longer, more secure, apprenticeships with skill consolidation periods.

It also suggests the creation of a high-quality public sector careers service to compete with other providers and be available to any schools that are willing to pay for the service.

Offering all students aged 14 to 16 the chance to take a vocational subject alongside academic study, delivered through school and technical college partnerships, is another recommendation.

Ian Wybron, researcher at Demos, said: “All the major political parties agree we need to do more to promote high-quality apprenticeships. So it’s disheartening to see that so few parents and students are given the information they need to make an informed choice about them. Schools, businesses and policymakers should work together to promote apprenticeships as a first-rate option to be considered by all young people.”