How Can School Leavers Benefit From An Apprenticeship?

by Rob Davis | Apprentices

Every year, hundreds of thousands of school leavers face a daunting choice. What is the best way for them to continue to learn and develop as they venture out into the big wide world?

Here at the LDN Apprenticeships we have helped hundreds of school leavers to answer this question over the years. It’s a really big moment, and we have a responsibility to guide each young person in the right direction.

At times this means that we may even suggest a young person does something other than an apprenticeship, after all, this choice will have an impact on the rest of their life, so it needs to be right for the individual.

Apprenticeships may be right for them, or university, or even a gap year. Each young person is different, so why shouldn’t their choices in life be?

What an apprenticeship allows for young people is the ability to choose a specific career path and learning programme that they’re interested in.

That sounds a lot like university you might say. Well yes, that part is like choosing a university course.

What a university degree doesn’t allow for though are a few of the great and unique things about apprenticeships.

As mentioned in my previous blog post ’How Much Does Hiring and Being An Apprentice Cost?’ there is absolutely no cost for young people who choose to do an apprenticeship. Considering that university tuition fees alone can cost up to £9,000 a year, this is a major benefit.

In fact, apprentices earn money, rather than incurring a debt. Apprentices do a PAID job at the same time as learning the knowledge, skills and behaviors to be successful in their chosen career.

Don’t employers prefer to hire graduates with a degree?

The 2018 report ‘What Do Graduates Want?’ commissioned by Bright Network suggests there is a misconception about what employers are looking for in their junior hires.

The report shows that while many graduates believe gaining a 2:1 or above is what employers value most in candidates, employers want something quite different.

The employers who participated in the study said that a passion for the business and communication skills were the attitudes that they were most interested in.

A fascinating insight, isn’t it? It shows that the expectations of employers lean more towards a personal character than they do towards final grades.

Does every apprentice gain a paid placement?

If you apply for an apprenticeship and are successful, then you will definitely be working for a company and doing a paid apprenticeship job. So, yes, every apprentice does get paid work. Unfortunately, not every young person who applies for an apprenticeship gets the job.

What we do here at LDN Apprenticeships is attempt to make sure the right apprentice is placed within the correct role. A big part of making sure we get this right is our Career Kickstarter.

A Career Kickstarter is a weekly event allowing young people to talk to clients face to face. Removing the process of CVs that heavily rely on grades and achievements. Instead of focussing on the passion and communication skills that employers look for most.

But what about when the apprenticeship has finished?

All good things must come to an end. Or do they?

We’ve found our setup at LDN Apprenticeships to be hugely beneficial to young people. Over 86% of our apprentices have gone into full time employment after their apprenticeship had finished. This is with either their current employer or a different employer.

In fact, three out of four LDN Apprentices are hired by the employer where they did their apprenticeship once they’ve finished!

That’s an incredibly high achievement rate after 13 months of learning, training and paid work. On top of that, over 75% of apprentices receive a pay increase from when they started their apprenticeship.

Apprenticeships aren’t for everyone. But as an option for school leavers, the benefits are there for all to see for young people.