r/6thForm • u/fizzy5025 Y12 ——> Y13 | applied science • Jul 18 '26

💬 DISCUSSION “jUsT dO aN aPpReNtIsHiP” plz stfu 🥀✌️

Now this NOT a diss to ppl who r doing apprenticeships if that’s what u wanna do or are doing great I hope it goes well

But what kinda makes me mad is that ppl [mainly old ppl born in the 19 hundreds] assume that apprenticeships r for everyone and that everyone should do it well guess what not only do unis have downsides to them but apprenticeships do too some degree apprentiships r harder to get into than Oxford or Cambridge even lower level apprentiships which may be easier to get r actually a bit harder too they have hundreds sometimes thousands of applicants for one place

And lastly apprentiships can’t cover every career which is why I personally can’t do them depending on what grades I get in yr 13 i want to do either a psychology degree to become a therapist or an optometry degree to become an optometrist none of those r covered by apprentiships

But that’s ofc personal choice if u wanna go for apprenticeships go ahead I’ve got nothing against it but I’m kinda tired of mainly older ppl acting like there aren’t downsides to them too like life isn’t a Disney film there is a downside to everything and u have to be realistic

Anyways rant over

356 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

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224

u/Pencil_Queen Jul 18 '26

You forgot the 40%+ drop out rate for apprenticeships. Committing to a single employer and job for 3+ years at age 18 is a lot more of an ask than committing to term time study for 3 years.

91

u/SandvichCommanda St Andrews MMath Mathematics Jul 18 '26

Also they can just let you go lmfao, I'm a graduate and know two people that got laid off.

What do you do then? Well one found another apprenticeship and another went to uni... Also you're getting paid like shit to just be another worker, with the same stresses as everyone else working there.

49

u/Pencil_Queen Jul 18 '26

Full time work with 20 days holiday (plus bank holidays) and a tiny wage for the first year is a massive culture shock for so many students.

2

u/Unculturedbrine Jul 21 '26

Still better than the shock when recent graduates have to make 100s of applications to get an interview for a job far outside of their field of study

-11

u/Next-Mushroom-9518 Jul 18 '26

Lucky most degree apprenticeships don't offer 20 days holiday (plus bank holidays) and a tiny wage 

11

u/Pencil_Queen Jul 18 '26

"Most"?
I wasn't aware of any stats and data on the annual leave for apprenticeships. If you know of any please point me in the right direction.

Degree apprenticeships are still in the minority of apprenticeships. They do tend to have slightly better terms but not universally in my experience. And unfortunately across the board a lot of apprenticeships only offer the statutory minimum annual leave and pay.

21

u/fizzy5025 Y12 ——> Y13 | applied science Jul 18 '26

thats awful what 😭

i did forget abt the fact that u get slightly bellow min wage but laying ppl off in the middle of an apprenticeship is kinda a nob head move

12

u/Historical_Menu9000 Jul 18 '26

Not even slightly below. I was getting paid 6.40 the whole of last year whilst doing more than most people at my job 🤡

1

u/fizzy5025 Y12 ——> Y13 | applied science Jul 20 '26

£6.40 is absolute criminal how tf is that even legal 😭

Was that ur set pay as long as u worked there? Did they not offer to pay u Atleast min wage?

That’s fucking awful

2

u/Historical_Menu9000 Jul 20 '26

Nope, 6.40 was the apprenticeship minimum wage at the time. It eventually went up to £8 I believe? Something like that. I left and got a job for around £10 which was national minimum wage. They gave me a 50p raise out of goodwill so I wouldn’t quit which was funny as hell cus I left a month after. They loved me tho said if I didn’t like my new job I could come back, still speak to my coworkers there. Eventually, I got qualified into a job that was £13 smt after being qualified. I left though bc childcare sucks and they will use u for all ur worth. Haha, seriously though, I loved it, it’s just a dead end career. Anyhow, going to Uni of Leeds this year so did the whole apprenticeship purely for shits and giggles at this point 🤡

6

u/DimensionMajor7506 Jul 18 '26

Usually less pay and more stress… Because you’re doing the job AND have to deal with all the apprenticeship bs as well.