2 in 3 pupils say they may opt for apprenticeship

NEARLY two thirds of young people would consider an apprenticeship instead of going to university, according to a survey.

It found 64 per cent of those surveyed said they would be interested in starting an apprenticeship for a job they wanted to do instead of doing a degree.

This is a rise of 9 percentage points from 2014, when 55 per cent said they would consider this route.

The Sutton Trust, an educational charity, revealed that 41 per cent of those surveyed said their teachers had never discussed the idea of apprenticeships with them – up from 31 per cent in 2014.

A total of 2,381 11 to 16-year-olds in academies and maintained schools in England and Wales were surveyed by Ipsos Mori.

The Sutton Trust said separate polling of 1,246 teachers by the National Foundation for Educational Research found 21 per cent would advise a high-performing student to opt for an apprenticeship – up from 13 per cent in 2014.

Of the 583 secondary school teachers in the sample, 64 per cent said they would rarely or never advise students with good grades to take this route.

Sutton Trust founder Sir Peter Lampl said: ‘We need to do much more to make sure teachers advise their students to opt for apprenticeships.’