Apprenticeships – the new route into employment. Are you ready to ELBA?
There is a new route for young people to progress and achieve social mobility – but do we recognise it, and is it seen as desirable by their families? The revision of the apprenticeship system driven by the introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy in April 2017 will see many more higher level apprenticeships being offered, all the way to degree level. Employers will be more willing to consider higher level apprentices as they seek to maximise their return from their Levy payments.
A number of ELBA members are already supporting non-degree entry to the professions such as accountancy and legal occupations. It’s a great way to get qualified and onto a career path without incurring the debts associated with university study. Likewise, many employers are attempting to attract bright young people to take up higher apprenticeships in other occupations, emphasising the absence of long-term debt, and the ability to earn money instead of borrowing it. In theory, for young people from less well-off backgrounds, it is a win-win proposition. Get a great start on a career, earn money, end up with a degree equivalent qualification, already be in a job, and have no learning-related debt. What’s not to like? For families with less wealth, it surely is a better option?
However, when we dig beneath the surface of social mobility, it is the social meaning that underlies our views about progress that potentially make this unrealistic. For many professionals in the field, progression to higher education is a key measure of progress and social mobility. It is seen as the sure-fire route not only to better earnings, but also to creating the family social networks which become the foundation for future generations’ progress.
Likewise, for families themselves who have aspiration for their children, going to university is the ultimate goal. Being the first generation in one’s family to go to university is lauded and celebrated. This was the case with my own family. So why shouldn’t every family still continue to have this dream for their children. If you start to tell them that a higher level apprenticeship route without university is just as effective a route to progress, will they not claim that we are saying their children are not good enough for university? They will push on with the route they know, and incur the debt just the same because of the unequal status that is given to the university route compared to the vocational route.
For me, the thing I find most upsetting in all of this is when you meet young people who have worked hard through school, get to university and get a good degree, and still end up in jobs they could have entered when they left school, but now have a big debt. It is so disillusioning for them. And when they come up against recruiters who may well be judging them for wearing brown shoes and a baggy suit (see the Social Mobility Commission’s most recent report) rather than looking at their talents and abilities, you might forgive them for feeling conned.
It is this waste of talent that drove ELBA to set up London Works to get under-employed talented graduates from non-traditional backgrounds into graduate level jobs. It’s going well, with over 500 starts so far and the latest two cohorts are showing that over 75% were the first in their family to go to university and 65% were moving into their first graduate level job.
Higher level apprenticeships will give young people degree level qualifications, while being in employment and using their newly learned skills every day. This is surely a better outcome for them, their employer and for society. However, until we can tackle the underlying beliefs and attitudes it is going to be hard to shift the direction of travel. Three things we could do. Firstly, shift employer attitudes – a notoriously difficult thing to do. Thankfully, money talks, and the introduction of the Levy will bring about change as it will give firms an incentive to look at new ways of doing things. Secondly, make the higher level vocational route as well understood as the university route. Everyone understands the UCAS process, going to open days and picking your top preferences. Why not the same for higher level apprenticeships – with open days, work experience and placements, and a well established application system? Thirdly, universities themselves will help bring about the change. The more progressive are already responding to the opportunity and offering higher level and degree apprenticeships.
In time we will see the academic students side by side with the apprentices on campus. You will be able to tell them apart though. The apprentices will be on the customer side of the cafes and bars, having a good time with their friends, talking about work and building their networks for life. The academic route students will be serving behind the bar and café, worrying about how they are going to service their student loan debts and whether it will all have been worth it if they cannot find a graduate level job. Oh, and the apprentices might be wearing one of those ELBA tee-shirts.
