Apprenticeships
Stepping up – becoming an apprentice
A guide to apprenticeships: an overview – with a bit of mythbusting
F
irst and foremost, apprenticeships are a legitimate and rewarding path
to skill development and career progression. As discussed elsewhere in this handbook, apprenticeships are not simply the alternative choice for those who can’t, or don’t, want to go to university. Rather, they are programmes designed to train and develop recruits and furnish them with qualifications. Degree apprenticeships, for instance, can equip an apprentice with precisely the same qualification as someone who has spent three or more years at university as a student (but all without the debt). Current, modern apprenticeship
programmes as we know them today have been established for
around a decade, with more and more companies embracing the initiative and bringing apprentices on board. Every sector and industry is represented – from the creative to the technical, through to every kind of retail or service. From hospitality, care and social work to the financial and legal sectors – there is an apprenticeship entry path to virtually any field, proving it’s no longer the case that a degree is the only route to highly professional, skilled and in- demand occupations.
Who can join an apprenticeship programme? Apprenticeships are available to those aged 16 and over that have achieved a minimum number of grades at GCSE, and 18-year-
olds that have taken A levels or BTEC qualifications. Entry criteria onto individual apprenticeship programmes themselves will vary. There are currently four levels of apprenticeship. The first is intermediate, followed by advanced, higher and degree apprenticeships. It’s possible to complete a level of apprenticeship and gain entry to the next one above if so desired.
What are they? The following are broad definitions; some programmes may vary in length, content and qualifications – that is, the qualifications you may need to embark on a particular apprenticeship, as well as they kind you’ll qualify in as part of the scheme. While these are intended
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