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Post 18 Alternatives to Higher Education

Nikki Coleman

Head of Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance

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Apprenticeships
School Leaver Programmes
Full time Job
Gap Year Programmes

Information on all Post 18 options are available on our careers and HE pages on the study directory - Careers Study Directory link

What are the options?

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‘Earn and learn’ 80% at work, 20% time off for study
Learn job specific skills and advance in your chosen career
Debt free qualification
Gain a variety of transferable skills
Work towards nationally recognised qualifications, including a degree
4 weeks paid holiday a year

Apprenticeships

Debt Free Qualification!

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Higher Apprenticeships (Levels 4-5): Equivalent to a Foundation Degree, HNC, or HND.

Degree Apprenticeships (Levels 6-7): Lead to a full Bachelor's or even Master's degree.

Apprenticeships

Levels

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Searching and apply for Apprenticeships!

Study Directory

The Government website - �‘Find an Apprenticeship’

Rate My Apprenticeship

UCAS Apprenticeship finder

www.notgoingtouni.co.uk

Individual company websites

Weekly in the Careers Newsletter

When it comes to searching and applying for an apprenticeship there is no one particular site to use. So anyone interested in taking this route needs to be proactive and to sign up to as many of the search engines as possible. All of these links are available on our study directory page which you can access by clicking the link at the top of this slide. We also advertise vacancies in our weekly careers newsletter that is shared every Friday with students, parents and staff.

Opportunities open around the end of October and in order not to miss out students should be checking all of these sites at least once a week. Employers decide when they want to recruit with many of the top companies following the UCAS application timeline between October - January, however we do see new vacancies appearing as late as May, June and July.

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Higher & Degree Listing

Higher and Degree Apprenticeship Vacancy list

Twice a year in October & January we send out the Higher and degree apprenticeships vacancy listing which is published by Amazing Apprenticeships. These listings showcase thousands of vacancies from a wide range of employers across the country. It gives an overview of the company advertising the job role, the apprenticeship level, the salary and when the applications open & close. There will also be a link to their website which will give further information about the role.

The vacancies are grouped by sector making it easy for the students to search for the areas that are relevant to them.

Here you can see some of the employers who are listed in the January edition. Popular employers offering degree apprenticeships include Amazon, Airbus, BAE Systems, Deloitte, EY, PWC, KPMG, BBC, MI5, Pfizer

Mention that in the creative industries there are fewer apprenticeship opportunities

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Growing interest from students around alternative pathways to University
Concerns about financial impact of university, moving away from home, cost of living, feedback from siblings, older friends,
Changing landscape:

Doctor Medical Degree Apprenticeships 2024,
Teaching Degree Apprenticeships 2025,
Law Degree Apprenticeships,
Green Careers, Sustainability
Rigorous selection process often 4/5 steps.
Feedback from students - All companies expect a Presentation to be delivered

Higher & Degree Apprenticeships

Over the past couple of years we have seen an increase in students speaking to us about apprenticeships and wanting to find out more about how they work, how they apply etc.

Concerns about financial impact of university, moving away from home, cost of living, feedback from siblings, older friends,
Mention that they are not available in every sector
Entry onto a Dr Medical Degree = east Suffolk and North Essex, same as if applying for a full time degree. https://beta.jobs.nhs.uk/candidate/jobadvert/C9432-24-1630 £16,816 pa
Law are competitive and students may or will need to consider moving to secure ones with top law firms. 3 magic circle law firms run degree apprenticeships
Feedback from Students - Rigorous process:

One student told us the following they applied to 21 companies, including the BBC, KPMG, NESTLE, BT, Amazon. Rejected from 14, 7 pending, 4 offered. Accepted BDO

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Apprenticeship Tracker

Invited to attend a Careers Meeting

Degree Apprenticeship Masterclasses - Examples include, AWE, BA, CISCO, Freeths Law firm, KPMG, Microsoft, NHS, Rawlinson & Hunter

VR - Bodyswaps Improving interview and presentation techniques using AI

What support is available

We have introduced an Apprenticeship Tracker for the students to complete which allows us to gather information about who is interested in following this pathway, the sector that they are interested in, how much (if any) research they have completed, how confident they feel about the apprenticeship process etc.

As a team we reach out to these students, inviting them to have a careers meeting to discuss their plans

From around November through to February we run a series of lunchtime talks which are delivered by companies who are looking to recruit apprentices. These talks consist of insightful information about the role, the application process, what to expect from an assessment centre. Last year we had talks from AWE, BA, CISCO, Freeth’s Law firm, KPMG, Microsoft, NHS, Rawlinson & Hunter. Some of these were delivered by ex students who are on the apprenticeship pathway, others were delivered by apprentices from the company

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Similar to an Apprenticeship - Earn and learn

Designed by the company

Professional qualification linked to the sector they want to work in

Typically last 3 - 7 years

Mainly offered by Banking and Financial companies

School Leaver programmes

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No requirement post 18 to continue in learning.

Full time work - A chance to gain some in house skills but no formal qualification.

Further training may be offered by the company to develop and move within the company.

Further qualifications and or training may be required if moving to another company.

Full Time Job

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Gap Year

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Contacts

The Prospect Trust Careers Services Team are available in College

careers@prospecttrust.org.uk