Rod Stewart sez you don’t need an ‘ology’

Interesting one this. Laughable as he is, I see some value in his opinion.

Having said that, I am a tradesperson and there is undoubtedly a lot of earning potential for skilled people, but if I had my time again I think I might have picked a different route, and not necessarily for financial reasons.

What’s everyone’s thoughts on apprenticeships v degrees?

 

I never think it's a waste of time to learn anything and universities were never formed to provide jobs, theyre there for further education .And moving away from home and mixing with a larger circle of people from all backgrounds is also of benefit. Youngsters are going to work until 70+ then they're going to have to be adaptable and will probably change jobs a few times. Spending 3 years of their lives at university can be done at any point , doesn't have to be straight from school.
As to the point about AI, the more educated kids are the more choices they have as to what work they can choose to do and the more autonomy they have over their lives. They could have a degree but still choose to be a bricklayer if they wanted.

 

I was a proofreader when I left school and ended up working in the building trade for forty years. Like to think I've been adaptable as everything i learned was on site.

 

"The government should just give money to businesses like mine so we can pay apprentices." He's just another grifter who achieved notoriety because he looks daft.

 

Good advice from 'Rod'. Forget education, be a tradesman so vultures like him can suck huge percentages out of your wage. Remember the boss who told one of his workers "I own a Ferrari, and if you work hard for long hours,,,, I 'll get another one!"

 

Society seems to have a downer on apprenticeships and that mindset needs to change because opportunities are going to waste.

 

Or be a tradesman and set up on yourself

 

He was in the hotel gym at the same time as me earlier this year. A very strange looking man, half hair, half plastic.

With regards University or apprenticeships, do what is right for you. Never feel pressured to do what others think is right.

 

Schools just push universities, they aren’t interested at all in other routes. We’ve seen both ways work for our kids. Daughter went to uni but had to anyway to become a teacher. Son got an apprenticeship in manufacturing and has never looked back, working his way into a good job in his mid twenties.

 

I'm not so sure that's the case. A lot of young adults I know are going down that route. But choice is key, I don't want uni to only be for the rich

 

After leaving school in the 70s with no qualifications crap jobs till I was 19 then joined Royal Navy best thing I’ve ever done seen most places in the world and ended up with a brilliant pension

 

I think it depends on the person and what they’re looking to do and are interested in. When I was deciding what to do after college it felt very much like we were encourage to go to University and we didn’t pay too much attention to apprenticeships. If I had my time again I’d consider apprenticeships much more seriously and I’m glad to see that they seem to be becoming more popular. University is great, you learn some really important skills whilst studying a subject you enjoy and if you know what you want to study and why you want to study it I’d always say go for it. The main draw back of university is the student loan system. You basically become a cash cow as they slap loads of interest on the loan so most never fully repay and the repayment thresholds don’t seem to be adjusting with wage inflation.

 

I think it is changing. My law firm offers a route in via apprenticeship and in my team there is someone who qualified via that route and someone in the middle of the process. They start after A Levels and can be a qualified legal exec and earning c.£60k by their mid-twenties without university debt.

It's a fantastic option and great for the firm in terms of promoting social mobility and getting people in who are good enough but for whatever reason don't want to go to university.

 

But the mindset is not just with those who enrol. Some parents, some employers etc seem to infer that anything other than "Uni" is second class and it is not. The route opted for should be the one best suited to the individuals needs. I appreciate some do not know what career path they wish to follow and therefore may be best suited to a more general rather than specific course. Learning "on the job" should not be discredited.

 

Fair comment, but my point was that he spouts off about what people should do, whereas all he did to make himself a millionaire was sponge off the lads who did the work.

 

One of the issues is that for some reason some youngsters are treat as being failures if they don't go on to higher education - we have pushed this degree narrative for years and the reality is that very few people get a job in the line of work that they have studied for. Theres more student loans that go unpaid than paid - the cost is picked up by the tax payer! The minute you start earning is the minute you should start paying it in some capacity. University degrees (in some courses, I'm not saying all) could surely be condensed into a year and a half as opposed to 3 years. Unfortunately the university system is sometimes used as a means of putting off the inevitable - getting a job!
Children need educating from an early age as to the pros and cons of going rather than being seen as a failure if academically you dont succeed.
The education system needs to acknowledge that some people just arent academically minded but are very skilled in other areas, I might be wrong but regionally this might also flag up as being the case- I think this gets overlooked at the top level and headteachers should be given credit for getting young people in apprenticeships etc as opposed to just being judged based on exam grades. My point is that if you get 10 children into young apprenticeship schemes as opposed to 10 children getting top marks , this should be seen as success in equal measure.
I have no beef if any of my children dont want to go to university - they are made aware of the upsides and downsides of everything-The choice is then theirs
I have said it for years, there is a reason why certain things aren't taught on the curriculum or children educated on - and that is purely down to money

 

Higher education has become a bit of a racket. Looking at it from the outside the huge expansion in student numbers has only had a marginal effect if any on making us a post-industrial new economy, what it appears to have done is push out people who don't go to university from traditional jobs that didn't need a degree to making it necessary in order to get certain work.
We should be encouraging and funding properly STEM subjects and vocational ones such as nursing first, then more traditional academic subjects next - English/History/Economics, etc. Then last, if you want to do sociology at The university of Gloucester then you pay more.
I think also they should look at drop out rates and set a boundary above which the university loses any funding for that course.

 

What I find really surprising about all of these initiatives of clean energy, electric cars, building more houses etc - why havent the government (or past ones) announced measures for apprenticeships etc for repais/replacement of services, electrical engineers for EV's, apprenticeships on building sites for local people etc? Surely these new areas go hand in hand with jobs creation.

 

Another scummy 'entrepreneur' who is so patriotic he doesn't want to pay any tax at all and said he was bunking off to Dubai (not sure if he has yet or if it was just words).

A neighbour had Pimlico plumbers once. It took the guy 6 hours to reseal a shower tray. £180 an hour (Inc vat). We had a guy who did ours for £40. I suspect their business model is rinse a customer once, don't worry about repeat business.

 

Fancy a job at Oakwell? Don't think they employ a proof reader.