New research by a website dedicated to spreading awareness of the opportunities that exist outside of university has discovered that over half of teachers within the UK don't educate their students on apprenticeships, vocational training and the others options readily available to them for when they complete their studies. These findings have been released for National Apprenticeship Week to coincide with the launch of the free-to-download 2015 'Apprenticeship and Vocational Training Guide'.
With National Apprenticeship Week set to take place from Monday 9th March until Friday 13th March 2015, www.notgoingtouni.co.uk has launched its annual ‘Apprenticeship and Vocational Training Guide’ aimed at students who are soon leaving secondary education. For those potentially looking for a different route to university, the guide lays out a wide variety of apprenticeship and vocational training options and alternatives to ensure students have all the information to hand when making a choice on their future education.
The guide is completely free to download from notgoingtouni.co.uk and includes a foreword from the Minister of State jointly for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department for Education, Nick Boles. As the new Skills Minister, Nick is all too aware of the vast array of opportunities available to students, particularly for those looking at alternative routes to university.
Furthermore, the 2015 guide highlights the benefits of undertaking an apprenticeship or vocational training course following school, college or sixth form, as well as offering insight into some of the roles available and providing much-needed unbiased information on how and where to find an apprenticeship or vocational training course to suit the needs of each individual.
In conjunction with the launch of this year's guide, notgoingtouni.co.uk has recently discovered that many teachers without the UK still don't inform their students of all the opportunities available to them following their studies. 1,762 teachers and lecturers from around the UK, all of whom work closely alongside those choosing what to do with their future, were quizzed about their recommendations for students when choosing what to do after GCSE's, A-Levels and college. When asked 'Which paths do you predominantly educate your students on?' and provided with a list of possible options, almost all (92%) stated that they promote university options over all others, whilst only 57% admitted to informing young people about the apprenticeship and vocational training available to them.
Wanting to delve a little deeper, all respondents who stated that they don't educate their students on apprenticeships and vocational training were asked to state why. When provided with a list of possible reasons and told to select all that applied, the most common reasons were 'didn't know enough about them to talk about them' (68%) and 'the school values students who go on to university' (35%). The research also found that 18% of respondents had been approached by students wanting more information on alternative opportunities, to which almost three quarters (71%) admitted to encouraging their students to either do the research themselves or look further into degree opportunities.
This year's guide from notgoingtouni.co.uk delves into the 11 most popular sectors for apprenticeships, highlighting advice, facts and figures for each of them, including Science & Mathematics, Arts, Media & Publishing and Construction, Planning and the Built Environment. The guide provides readers with numerous benefits to career-based training after leaving secondary education, not least the ability to earn whilst learning and the hands-on work experience gained that most who attend university won't get from full-time studies.
Not only does the free-to-download guide feature information from business that have such schemes available (including Mi5 & Mi6, Mercedes-Benz and Microsoft), and provide details on the variety of apprenticeships available throughout the UK, but it also features case studies from young people who have undertaken apprenticeships or vocational training for a variety of companies, including Smith & Williamson, GP Petronas and Ideagen Plc. Alongside all of this, the guide provides useful tips and resources for those seeking an alternative route to a degree, covering all sectors from business administration, public services and retail to agriculture, engineering and hospitality.
The comprehensive 62-page guide, which is free to download, use and reproduce as of Tuesday 9th March, can be found here; http://www.notgoingtouni.co.uk/advice/apprenticeship-guide-2015-515
Spencer Mehlman, Managing Director of notgoingtouni.co.uk, spoke about the 2015 Apprenticeship and Vocational Training Guide:
"We've said it time and time again, but the results here clearly go to show that teachers favour university as the route for their students upon completing their studies. Young people can be incredibly impressionable, and when they're under an immense level of pressure to decide what to do with their future, it's not fair that not all students are presented with all of the opportunities available to them. How can someone possibly make an informed decision when they're only told about university? We're not at all against students going down the route of undertaking a degree, we just want to ensure that they are educated upon all routes so that they can make the right decision for themselves.”