The wait is over – . But even before results day, many students had already been considering their options for the future. A-levels remain the traditional route taken for post-16 education, but there are several alternatives that students can consider.
For those confused about the best path to take, here is our guide to apprenticeships, BTECs, NVQs, and traineeships. Apprenticeships combine study with practical training on the job, and provide an excellent alternative to A-levels. Students are thrown immediately into work life, able to learn directly from experienced staff.
They will acquire job-specific skills in their chosen industry, whilst gaining a qualification in the process. Apprenticeships are paid: companies such as BAE Systems, for example, offer a starting salary of around £30k on completion. “Many students prefer a more practical learning experience which might not be possible through a classroom based A-level qualification,” says Tom Laws, the education and awareness co-ordinator of Serco Services.
Instead, he says, an apprenticeship is “a way for young people to earn while learning in a real job, gaining a real qualification and a real future”. Apprenticeships have certainly experienced a surge in popularity recently. In 2022/23, 393,400 students started an apprenticeship in England – with over 4.
2 million apprenticeships started between 2010/11 and 2018/19. That’s 2.2 million apprenticeship achievements during that time.
In 2022/23 70,020 under-.