Are apprenticeships better than going to uni?

25 comments

1. It obviously completely depends on the uni course, the individual, and the apprenticeship.

2. I think it depends on the university course and institution. So many places are now deemed universities that it loses its value to some extent.

3. It depends what you want from life. I didnt go to uni, and very quickly started earning the same amount, and worked at degree level before I would have if I’d gone to uni and applied for the job afterwards.

   But, I didnt have all the uni lifestyle and shenanigans.

   But I also didn’t have £50k of debt to pay off.

4. I did not go to uni and have quite a good job. Everyone in my team has a degree most people have no idea I don’t have one due to my position.

   Knowledge, hard work and dedication go a really long way.

   I have also definitely got lucky a number of times.

   I regularly regret not going to university but I think it is more self doubt, I could possibly be in a worse situation if I had gone.

   Are you trying to make the decision?

5. I went to uni studied chemistry and have a job on 50k doing computer systems for materials finishing (some of my peers are school lab techs on 27). I was paying off a student loan for 15 years and that was the old one where I only took 3k a year including fees. Can’t imagine the modern one of 10k a year.

   My brother did a hydraulic systems fitter apprenticeship he is 60k as hydraulic specialist including a workshop manager bonus. Only issue is still a manual job…what about in 30 years time when we are both pushing 70 and his back is already going at 36

6. Need more details, what apprenticeships you considering vs uni courses. One thing I can say is don’t go to university if your not going to get a degree in something that can get you a job.

7. It depends but in many many cases an university is not a great career enhancement.

8. I massively regret going to uni and wish I’d done an apprenticeship.

   It’s pretty rare for a degree to get you a good job nowadays and then you’re entering the job market a few years later than people who didn’t go to uni. Not to mention loan repayments. Student finance takes a couple of thousand from me every year and I obviously owe that money but it wasn’t worth it.

   Everyone is different, though.

9. Appreticeships are great for trade and many offer more practical learning in comparison to university where a lot of it might be spent in lecture halls. University is almost a must for professions where having a degree is desirable.

   Most importantly you need to decide what field you want to pursue.

10. Depends on what you want to get out of it. If you’re looking at a more vocational based career that has apprenticeships in that field, that may well be right for you, but equally a lot of employers in desk based businesses will want a degree from candidates.

    On top of the qualification though, university is a great fun and provides experience in independence. It’s like adulthood with training wheels, and for a lot of people that’s their main takeaway from uni.

11. Depends what you want to do.

    Want to be a doctor? Better make a start on your UCAS form. Want to be a plumber? Time to look what firms near you are taking on apprentices.

    For stuff where you can get either pathway, the general rule is Uni will be faster, and more of a life experience, apprenticeship will be slower but you will earn as you do it and you will come out with more experience.

12. We have an apprentice doing a degree in programming.

    He has just completed his first year and is already working on Apps, web pages and Dev Ops projects, where a lot of his class mates are still looking at data.

    If you do an apprenticeship in a good business, you will end up with real world skills, rather than university taught skills.

13. It depends on your end goal. e.g. for lawyers apprenticeships are a terrible idea. They exist but are not respected and you don’t become a full lawyer at the end of it.

    You should ask people who currently work in the profession you want to go into how well respected apprenticeships are and what the career prospects of apprenticeships are.

14. Apprenticeships if you can get in one are a great way of entering work. They may be lesser paid to start than employment but you are being paid and not paying out fees for education.

    University is something you can do once you have employment and a wealth of experience behind you.

    I did the apprenticeship route after dropping out of university.

    I later went back to university as a distance learner whilst still in employment.

    I walked through the 3 years distance learning and do not regret it at all.

    A degree is just a piece of paper that may or may not unlock further opportunities.

15. As others have said, it depends what you want to go into. A lot of corporate jobs generally require (at least) a degree to go into, as obviously do things like law, medicine etc.

    But, it is expensive. If its just about money there are plenty of apprenticeships that will lead to a career that pays well.

    But also, university isn’t just about the education. It was one of the best 3 year periods of my life. I met a group of people I’m still best friends with 10 years later. I created so many good memories. I got to know a new city. I discovered my passion for intellectual discussion. I learned and grew a lot as a person. I always say I learned at least as much at university outside the lecture theatre as inside.

    It just really depends what you want to experience and where you want to end up.

16. It depends.

    If you know exactly what you want to do, and can get there without going to university, then don’t bother.

    A degree can open doors for you, even if it isn’t in the field you studied in. But also a degree is only worth what you make of it. I know plenty of University graduates who still work at Wetherspoons. I work in a laboratory where 95% of our staff are graduates, yet my friend who stayed in Wetherspoons gets paid more than most of us.

17. Unlike a few peoples comments. Degrees can get you work straight away. However if you do a degree in ancient language even if it is from Cambridge , don’t be surprised when you can’t get a managerial position in finance straight away. ( this is referencing a bbc interview many years ago)

18. What are you doing? My field is completely inaccessible via an apprenticeship so it wasn’t much of a choice for me.

19. Only go to uni if you really really want to do that study and think that’s the career you’ll do long term.

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    Why? Because you can always come back to do your uni, perhaps after you made your mind or too often, **found another passion that you want to do**. Once you completed a uni course, you won’t be able to take advantage of the government loan again and do another study, unless you study a level above the one you already studied (you studied bachelor, then you won’t get help to study another bachelor but you can get help for doing a master…etc). (Even if you go masters after a bachelor, it’s extremely extremely unlikely a university will let you do a clothes fashion study as a master, when you studied a biochemistry as a bachelor degree. So once again if you find yourself not happy with what you studied but completed it afterward say you worked as a biochemist for 3 years and don’t like it, you can’t study a master to do clothe fashion. No university would want that unless you work 1000% outside of job to proof your interest.)

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    Do your apprenticeship first is almost always better, unless your career obviously can’t be obtained just by doing apprenticeships (such as becoming a General Practitioner, a dentist).

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    If it’s a subject where both routes are available (such as computer science / computer programmer), then go apprenticeship first. You’ll both get to go in the field much earlier to get a taste of what’s like to be a programmer, and then if you want to take it further, you can always go back to study with government loan help. The **best** part is if you decided computer science / programming is not for you, you can always quit or finish the apprenticeship, switch to another apprenticeship like hairdressing and still have help provided to you.

20. I agree that it depends on what you end up doing. I did a degree in psychology, like most people at the time, and it hasn’t helped at all in the job I do.

    I don’t earn enough to pay off the loan so I don’t have that negative but if I had gone straight into my job from either school or college then that’s an extra 3-5 years worth of wages I have missed out on.

    If I could do it all again I would either skip uni completely or do a degree in something more specialised that would help me get a job in that field rather than a vague degree.

21. Did an apprenticeship starting in 2016, now with one job move I’m on nearly 60k. No student debt, got qualified, would recommend.

22. Only if you need a degree for the job you want to do.

    I left college and started an apprenticeship aged 17 and have been in full time work ever since (I’m 24 now). Now I have a well paying job and have bought my own house whilst people my age that went to uni are only just starting entry level jobs with a pile of student debt.

23. Yes, I did one.

    It’s much better to earn money than get into debt at Uni.

24. Others keep talking about apprenticeships being for trades or vocational only but that is outdated (there are apprenticeships now to be a Doctor, Solicitor, Charted Accountant, architect…). Plus there are 795 apprenticeship standards, of which 119 are degree level and 72 masters level.

    https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/apprenticeship-standards/?levels=7

    The difference will be the experiences and deciding what works best and matters most to you etc. Higher level apprenticeships can also be very competitive and its is easier to get into a uni course.

25. If the apprenticeship includes college or uni then it’s good because the firm pays your fees (usually).