Apprentices’ lifetime earnings surpassing university graduates’ by up to 270%, report finds
Apprentices in the arts, media, and publishing industries are making up to 270% more than those who went to university; while apprentices in agriculture, horticulture, and animal care are taking home 211% more than graduates. A report published by Barclays and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (cebr) found the amount apprentices make in some sectors to be well over the average gap in lifetime earnings potential between apprentices and graduates – at just 1.8% the average earning premium difference between the two study paths is £2,200 (equivalent to £4.00 a month). Using the report, this article seeks to rebuke a range of common misconceptions about apprenticeships, including that they are only relevant for those looking for careers in vocational or manual industries: business, administration and law have accounted for the most apprenticeship starts in 2014-2015 at 29%, closely followed by health, public services and care at 26%. There were over 89,600 apprentice starts within the retail and commercial enterprise sector and over 74,100 within engineering and manufacturing technologies. The report makes it clear that apprenticeships are a popular and feasible career path regardless of age with 43% of apprenticeship starts by people aged 25 years and over in 2014-2015. Barclays predicts these figures will grow “exponentially” in the coming years. Mike Thompson, head of apprentices at Barclays described how “the figures released show quantifiably, for the first time, that apprentices are getting “a hidden pay cheque, through earning while working, that is comparable or – in some cases – higher than university graduates…This bonus means they can fast track themselves to home or car ownership…without worrying about long-term student debt. Apprenticeships should be considered a viable and valuable career path and a genuine alternative to university.” Amid the good news around earnings, IPPR released a briefing paper this week reviewing the Government’s new apprenticeship system for England. The paper highlights issues around its ‘employer led’ approach, including how smaller employers, low skilled jobs or less traditional sectors which don’t have a collective sense of ‘occupational identity’ will benefit. IPPR asks if we are in “danger of introducing an apprenticeship system that would work well in the economy of the 1960s but is not fit for a 21st century workforce.” Will the Government meet its target of 3 million apprenticeship starts by the end of the parliament?