Are students aware of their options?

Can I tell you something about myself? Like many others, I hold a degree in a subject that I do not directly use in my day-to-day work. I vividly remember 11 years ago, sitting in school umming and ahhing over what course and university I should choose. Although the experience of gaining my degree was a great one and certainly equipped me with many new skills, I was not completely aware at the time of all the other options that were available to me.

Fast forward 11 years and we now have a burst of new and exciting apprenticeships - the opportunity to earn-while-you-learn with no student debt while gaining genuine work experience. But, with so many options and opportunities out there, are students aware of all their options?

On the 1 May 2017, the Government will introduce the apprenticeship levy, an employer led strategy to encourage businesses to take on more apprentices and create new apprenticeship qualifications. In addition to this, the Government also has set a target to create three million apprenticeships by 2020. It’s therefore imperative that students are aware of what is on offer to them.

But a recent report produced just over 18 months ago found that although 74% of students would consider taking an apprenticeship, 80% knew ‘a little’ or ‘nothing at all’ about professional apprenticeships¹. This means many school leavers could be missing out on the apprenticeship opportunities offered by employers simply because they are unaware of them. The majority of those surveyed also suggested they didn’t feel informed about the progression routes available to them and that the advice given to them was biased towards attending university. Even more worryingly, the students surveyed said that they were largely unaware of the fact that formal qualifications, such as degrees, could be achieved through an apprenticeship.

We need to turn these statistics around. Apprenticeships aren’t only good for the apprentices themselves; they also bring huge benefits to employers. Apprentices can improve the quality of employers’ services² and improve employee retention, and the cost of apprenticeship training pays for itself within one to two years of completion. So with this in mind, how can employers help raise the profile of apprenticeships?

Firstly, I believe the Government, schools and employers must collaborate to provide powerful and informative messages to our young people - whether this message is between the Government and schools, or between careers advisors, teachers, tutors, parents or guardians and the young people themselves. As a key player in the construction industry, BAM Construct UK will continue to work closely with schools and colleges, sharing our opportunities and showcasing the industry’s latest technology to get students excited about an apprenticeship in construction.

11 years ago, if I had had all of the options that are available today, I’m sure I would have been saying: ‘sign me up!’.

If you are interested in applying for an apprenticeship at BAM, please follow us on Twitter @BAMConstructcareers and @BAMconstructearlycareers Instagram to stay tuned on any apprenticeship news and roles.

References:

1 Featherstone, G. (2015). The knowledge deficit - Awareness, attitudes and aspirations of IT and professional apprenticeships

2 Hogarth et al. (2012) Employer Investment in Apprenticeships and Workplace Learning: The Fifth Net Benefits of Training to Employers Study, BIS Research Paper Number 67

About the author

Anna Jennings

Early Career Manager

Joining BAM in January 2017, Anna has spent the past six years in Early Careers and recruitment, working for a small, fast-growing executive search firm. Here she designed, implemented and ran a graduate development programme alongside her day-to-day recruitment role. Anna’s experience also includes working for large companies such as Tesco and ITV. In her previous role at ITV, Anna led and managed all of their Early Career programmes, also spending time designing and successfully implementing a new work experience programme for 14-17 year olds.

Anna’s experience to date has allowed her to own every aspect of the early career programme delivery, such as creating marketing material and running social media campaigns, engaging with youth & diversity partners, talent attraction and recruitment, hosting and delivering assessment days and learning & development workshops, designing new early career programmes, as well as supporting apprentices and graduates throughout.

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About the author

Anna Jennings