Results Days 2024: Ignite CEO reflects on the benefits of apprenticeships for school leavers
Posted on: 22nd Aug 2024
Apprenticeships 
Justin Merritt, CEO of Ignite Training, explains why modern-day apprenticeships are increasingly viewed as a viable option among school leavers and employers.
£75,000 is a lot of money for anyone – regardless of their age or experience in the sector in which they work.
But that’s the most likely financial swing between an apprentice completing their first on-the-job qualification and a university student ending their final term.
Sharp rises to the cost-of-living and knowledge that the average university student concludes their education £50,000 in arrears is prompting enthusiastic school leavers to look elsewhere.
And apprenticeships are providing the answer – with positive outcomes not purely exclusive to the learner.
When I completed my education at Lord Williams’s School in Thame in the early 1990s, the landscape and opportunity of apprenticeships then was unrecognisable to what is provided today.
In fact, apprenticeships were barely mentioned as a genuine option to ignite a person’s career path.
Fast-forward 33 years to today, and more than 600 types of jobs are supported by modern-day apprenticeships which range from Level 2 right up to Level 7 – equivalent to a GCSE qualification and master’s degree respectively.
If you aspire to become a solicitor, a dental technician, a teacher, photographer or even a farmer, there is an apprenticeship out there for you.
All the above has likely been a key factor in why the percentage of 18-year-olds wanting to go to university has fallen from 44.1 per cent in 2022 to 41.9 per cent today.
It’s not that universities aren’t valued by some, far from it – and more on that in a moment.
My time at London Metropolitan University in the late 1990s was instrumental in the creation of Ignite Training as it operates today in a year where we proudly celebrate our 25th birthday.
But people are thinking practically, and what’s best for them in the short and long-term.
As it’s well documented, apprenticeships serve the ‘earn and learn’ route. But I think it can be easy for school leavers, those looking to upskill or change careers and even employers to lose sight of the true value of vocational qualifications.
Five years after any young apprentice completes their end point assessment (EPA) I can guarantee they won’t remember their end-of-month payslip.
What will stick in their minds and be forever present in their skillsets and behaviours, though, is the knowledge and advice passed on from colleagues and tutors. The contacts established from working on the job and building a network often influences learners’ career paths.
And let’s not forget the proven benefits of apprenticeships to employers – increased productivity, bringing fresh ideas to a workplace, investing in the future of your workforce and increased retention rates.
Drawing back on the university point, let’s not forget apprenticeships in no way preclude university. They can be just one step in an educational journey which still includes university further down the road.
Many of our own graduates are shining examples of this by broadening their studies post-apprenticeship at some of the country’s top universities.
On a final note, I’d like to offer my warmest congratulations to everyone who has received their A Level or GCSE results this month. Reaching these milestones represents many hours of hard work, and we hope everyone can be proud of what they have achieved.
Justin Merritt, Ignite Training CEO.
