‘I quit university because I was more interested in the clinical time rather than being in lectures’

Charlie initially studied biomedical engineering at the University of Southampton, beginning in 2017. However, when his course was affected by Covid – shutting the labs and removing the practical element – he no longer felt it was the correct route for him and quit.

In 2022, the 25-year-old from Warminster, Wilts, joined Plus Practice Hospital Group in Shepton Mallet as an apprentice radiographer, a profession he has been interested in since school. Upon completing the three-year course, Charlie will qualify with a bachelor’s degree in diagnostic radiography.

When he was at university, instead of carrying out experiments in labs, they were simulated online. “I thought if we were just doing practical work online, then why pay the university for this,” he explains. By contrast, his apprenticeship is packed with hands-on experience. On a Monday he may learn how to position a patient to X-ray a body part, then he will spend the Tuesday to Friday practically carrying out the procedure and critiquing his images. “The largest difference is seeing how our learning actually gets put into action within the job,” Charlie says.

If he could go back to 2017, he would have applied for an apprenticeship over university, and recommends the route specifically for jobs in healthcare.

“Radiography is such a practical job and I was more interested in the amount of clinical time I’d be spending in the role over sitting in lectures. Having colleagues who have gone through the same courses I have and know how it all works is so helpful, too.”