Tag Archives: comments

Apprentice wage rises

apprentice-wageGood news for potential apprentices, the apprentice minimum wage has increased from £80 per week to £95 a week! Apprentices are exempt from national minimum wage but as of August are getting a pay rise of £15.

Whilst most employers do pay way above the national minimum apprentice wage of £80 already, some apprentices are still getting by on it so an extra 60 quid a month can be the difference between staying in & going out (and eating lobster).

If you still think that you could never get by on £95 a week, rest assured as the average pay for apprentices is still over £170 a week.

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By: Tom Mursell

NHS Apprenticeships to treble

NHS apprenticeships are set to TREBLE to over 5,000 apprenticeship vacancies from next year. The funding of £25m from the Government to help fund the apprenticeship places was announced earlier by the health secretary Andy Burnham.

The total number of NHS apprenticeships will be 5,318 from March 2010, rising from the existing 1,500 apprenticeship places they have already. This latest push in apprenticeships is timely as the Government recently announced they would increase the number of public sector apprenticeships by 21,000.

The NHS apprenticeships to be made available will be in a variety of roles from clinical support apprenticeships like dental nursing, through to non-clinical apprenticeships such as business administration, catering & IT.

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By: Tom Mursell

Why you shouldn’t go to university – NGTU in The Times

times-online-logoNew research suggests that half of full-time students set to graduate this summer are seriously considering postgrad options. This is especially popular with those at Russell Group or other older universities, where, according to Opinionpanel Research, almost a third of final year students have applied for more study.

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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By: Tom Mursell

VQ Day – Celebrating Vocational Qualifications

vq-day1Wednesday 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).

VQ Day is an annual event that provides a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the achievements of all those learners who have opted to not go to uni and chosen instead to get a vocational qualification. So if you’ve studied in the past for an Apprenticeship, a BTEC, a City & Guilds, an NVQ/SVQ, an OCR Nationals, an HNC/HNDs or professional qualifications then VQ Day is the day to celebrate your achievements!

“VQ day is a fantastic idea and everyone at notgoingtouni.co.uk will be celebrating today in honour of those who have achieved vocational qualifications,” says Tom Mursell from notgoingtouni.co.uk. “With so much pressure on young people to get a degree, it’s a shame that so many amazing successes are sometimes brushed under the carpet.”

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By: Tom Mursell