Parents and young people divided over apprenticeships and university degrees

Parents and their children are divided over whether university or an apprenticeship is the best next step towards a successful career, research has revealed.

The study, commissioned by e-commerce company Amazon, found 86% of parents believe an apprenticeship would provide their child with a good chance of getting a permanent job, compared with 67% for university.

The YouGov survey revealed 82% of parents thought an apprenticeship provided good earnings potential, compared with 75% for university education.

Students disagree with parents; 86% believe university provides good earning potential compared with 72% for apprenticeships. University also came out on top for providing a good opportunity to get a permanent job (82%), compared with an apprenticeship (78%).

To ensure a representative sample for the survey, quotas were set during fieldwork. The total sample for the parents (England and Wales) survey is 1,036 parents of children in Years 10-13. Results were weighted to be representative of this group by region and household status.

The total sample for the young people (England and Wales) survey is 1,063 young people in Years 10-13. Results have been weighted to be representative of this group by age, gender and region.

For those who do choose an apprenticeship as their next career step, Amazon offers schemes in a wide variety of areas including engineering, cyber security, broadcast production, and operations management.

When Jessica was finishing her A-levels, she was encouraged to go to university – but she knew that wasn’t for her. She wanted to get on the industry ladder straight away, so she started her apprenticeship with Amazon at 18 years old, straight from sixth form.

Jessica said: “Once I get my degree and finish my apprenticeship, I would love to step into an automation engineering role. Eventually I would like to explore leadership positions and progress that way.”