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Stuart Gentle Publisher at Onrec

Press Release: Over 60% of current students and graduates would now pick an apprenticeship over university

Graduate jobs portal WikiJob recently surveyed its audience, most of whom are students or graduates aged 18-25, to discover how they feel about apprenticeships compared to university. Surprisingly, 62% of them said they would prefer an apprenticeship, were they to make the decision now.

Apprenticeships were viewed as advantageous for getting on the career ladder early, gaining practical work experience, and earning while you learn. The benefits of university education were seen as less practical: intellectual curiosity and a good social life were the two factors seen as most attractive.

However, millennials still believe that employers prefer to recruit graduates over apprentices, suggesting that university is perceived as having a prestige among employers compared to apprenticeships.

To view the infographic of the survey results, click here: https://www.wikijob.co.uk/content/features/universities/infographic-university-or-apprenticeship

Commenting on the findings, James Rice, Head of Digital Marketing at WikiJob, said: “We were surprised that over half of today’s students and graduates said that they would choose an apprenticeship if given the choice now. Perhaps this reflects a growing disillusionment with graduate career prospects compared to the cost of university education, and an acknowledgement that for many, learning a trade on the job is a great way to get ahead.”