Apprentices Over Graduates

Nigel Williams, 18 April 2013

A poll conducted by ICM for the National Apprenticeship Service delivered the headline result

that former Higher apprentices (with a degree-level qualification and relevant work experience) are the most employable at 7.98 on a ten point scale, followed by university graduates at 7.58.

This looks encouraging. The economic and social value of acquiring a skill and being employed to use it appears self-evident. Finding that the value to employers exceeds even that of university graduates looks remarkable. There is useful material here but it does raise some further questions.

The survey questioned employers about the suitability for work in their industry of people with different levels of qualification. They didn’t ask about particular subjects, just the level. The categories were school leavers, either with GCSEs or A levels, university graduates, college leavers, with level 2 or 3 qualifications like Edexcel’s BTEC, or apprentices. Apprentices could be level 2, level 3 or degree level and, for the survey, also needed to have relevant work experience of at least 12 months. Level 2 is approximately equivalent GCSE, Level 3 approximately A Level.

Obviously it would be going into too much detail to distinguish Certificates from Diplomas, different subjects, or even the grades achieved. The survey was really getting at which training programmes prepared people for the workplace.

Very important to the survey is the relevant work experience. Much of the attraction of apprenticeships is in their relevance. But it does mean that a comparison between higher apprentices and university graduates does not consider whether a year of relevant work experience would make the graduates more appealing.

There are also interesting comparisons at levels 2 and 3. Level 2 college leavers with vocational qualifications were as suitable as Level 3 school leavers with A Levels. Level 2 apprentices with experience beat both.

The survey goes well beyond these basic comparisons and divides the employers into major sectors. Legal work, for example, offers few opportunities without a degree. These sectoral divisions invite further questions. Which employers will be recruiting, either for replenishment or growth, in the near future? Which qualifications will open opportunities for better paid work?

Anyone choosing a training programme, academic or vocational, is being asked to weigh up the personal investment involved against the chances of securing a job and the rewards it will offer. This survey is a helpful answer to the second part of that judgement.