Apprentices can earn £50,000 more than graduates, but parents still prefer uni

Emma Finamore
01 Mar 2019

Despite the evidence around earning power, 31% of parents would encourage their children to go to university, as opposed to 27% who would suggest an apprenticeship.

Placeholder — Degree-level apprenticeships can lead to £50,000 more in lifetime earnings.

Research by social mobility charity, the Sutton Trust, shows 31% of parents would urge their children to go to university as opposed to 27% who would suggest an apprenticeship.

This is despite separate research from the Trust showing degree-level apprenticeships can lead to £50,000 more in lifetime earnings than a degree from outside the Russell Group of elite universities.

Degree Apprenticeships – such as those offered by Airbus in aeronautical engineering, Jaguar Land Rover and the accountancy firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers – have been highlighted as offering better earning power over a lifetime than a degree from a mid-level university.

Sir Peter Lampl, founder of the Sutton Trust, said more work needed to be done to improve the prestige of apprenticeships in the UK, as is the case in Switzerland and Germany.

Research shows degree-level apprenticeships can lead to £50,000 more in lifetime earnings than a degree from outside the Russell Group of elite universities.

This is despite separate Sutton Trust research showing degree-level apprenticeships can lead to £50,000 more in lifetime earnings than a degree from outside the Russell Group of elite universities.

Sir Peter Lampl, founder of the Sutton Trust, said more work needed to be done to improve the prestige of apprenticeships in the UK, as is the case in Switzerland and Germany.

“The best apprenticeships offer young people outstanding career prospects and financial rewards,” he said. “However it’s clear that many parents just don’t know enough about apprenticeships to feel confident advising their child along that route.”

He added that more needed to be done to dispel the view apprenticeships are “not of high quality”. The latest government figures show there were just 10,808 degree-level apprenticeship starts so far in 2018/19. This compares to over 330,000 school leavers undertaking degrees each year.

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