There’s news about a worrying drop in the number of new apprentices taken by 16-18 year-olds and 19-24-year-olds. Although the number of apprenticeships has increased overall by 15%, many of these are as a result of a fourfold increase in the over 25s taking apprenticeships (perhaps linked to the statistics we discussed earlier showing that the vast majority of graduates think apprenticeships are great). So what’s going on?
Unsurprisingly the politicians are blaming each other. David Willetts, the shadow minister for universities and skills, said. “Gordon Brown promised more opportunities for school-leavers, yet today we discover there has been a significant fall in the number of teenagers and young adults starting an apprenticeship. We must help young people through the recession, but Labour has created a lost generation.”
Wednesday 24th June might seem like just another date in the calendar but it’s a red letter day at notgoingtouni.co.uk because we’ve scheduled in 24 hours of celebration in honour of Vocational Qualifications Day (or VQ Day if you don’t want to be so formal).
For many young people, who thanks to the recession are faced with one of the toughest job markets in recent years, the idea of finding a job they love has been replaced by the more immediate problem of finding any job at all.
Why you shouldn’t go to university – NGTU in The Times
One major cause of this is the recession. And the reasons are not just the sheer lack of jobs for graduating students, but also because the students surveyed thought that the lack of sufficient graduate jobs meant there was more need to “stand out from the crowd.” In fact, the research also suggests (as seen in other surveys elsewhere), that final year students are having a very hard time, and are seriously rethinking their plans. Many say they would consider part-time or non-graduate-level roles.
It’s not a pretty picture for students, and Tom Mursell could be forgiven if he had a wry smile. The 19-year-old decided not to go to university, and has set up his own website. notgoingtouni.com, to encourage others to follow his path. Here he explains why…..
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Tagged apprenticeships, apprentiships, comments, Open Uni, press, Tom Mursell