To learn and earn: We must offer students universal apprenticeships

Exam season nearly always coincides with the sunniest, warmest days in May. That is certainly how it was in my day. Right on cue, the sun has cruelly emerged this week to shine down on students held captive at their desks.

Despite that, there is an air of anticipation amongst those who are leaving school after this exam diet. They can smell freedom on the wind. That excitement is tempered by a sense of vulnerability. Years of rigid school timetables and teachers’ edicts have been replaced by a wide-open future.

A narrow poll of speaking to school leavers this week threw up some surprises for me. All of them were completely at a loss as to what to do next. Perhaps it was always thus. But they were, to a person, determined not to go to university or college.

In my year, young people without clarity about the future would have chosen the path of least resistance, namely, further or higher education. Based on my small sample, that’s clearly no longer the case.

I was curious as to why, as the reasons should be a wake-up call for politicians, learning institutions and employers.

I said this column was for exploring the impact of policy on people. So, employability and education programmes are under the spotlight this week. The Scottish Government rightly invests huge sums of money in further and higher education and employment schemes for young people.

But it’s not good enough to keep funding the same courses, schemes and initiatives year on year – they must be constantly reviewed to ensure they respond to the changing preferences of young people and evolving needs of employers.

The most essential change we need is better collaboration between universities and colleges and employers – and I pose the argument that the most effective way of doing that is through apprenticeships.

The traditional model of four years of further or higher education followed by a lifetime of work is out of date. I propose that it should be replaced by a lifetime of learning, built on the foundation of an apprenticeship.

The further and higher education sector has been talking about the need to be more responsive to industry needs for years. Indeed, the Scottish Funding Council conducted a review of how the sector should support the nation’s aspirations better in the aftermath of the pandemic.

We need employers and places of learning to work hand-in-glove – which they do most effectively when offering a joint prospectus to a young person.

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This is the time to make the change. This generation of school leavers is unique, shaped by Covid, the cost of living crisis and the rise of poverty. These factors have created a profound shift in young people’s ambitions.

Take the lockdown for example.

I’m not sure we fully appreciated the full impact of depriving young people of socialising, attending school and growing up with their peers during the years of lockdown. A sixth-year pupil today entered lockdown when in third year. Their first year of exams was essentially cancelled, their second year was full of uncertainty, and their final year has been focused on their future.

The impact of all this disruption, uncertainty and change on their mental health, learning and socio-emotional development is been acute. Education and development take place through interaction, watching and copying, but during Covid, young people were left to learn in isolation, almost entirely through a screen.

It was a lonely, solitary experience. There is no doubt that closing and reopening and then closing schools exacerbated inequalities, especially for those with challenging home lives or difficult familial relationships.

The consequence is that young people are far more careful when they decide what to do with their lives. My small sample indicates that most would rather enter the job market immediately after school than pursue study.

That is underpinned by the cost of living crisis, which is eroding any savings young people have built up through part-time work. The prospect of paying for student accommodation and living costs, without the opportunity to work full-time is daunting.

I Recently spoke to a second-year student, who will be paying £650 per month plus bills for a tiny room. That includes energy bills, which continue to rise. She works every hour she can, and every day of the holidays.

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But rent and bills would be difficult to afford for a full-time worker, never mind a student. Meanwhile, inflation is still in double-digit figures, with food prices up 19.2%.

All this matters because our economy will be shaped by the career decisions made by the generation leaving school this year.

Scotland’s industries and businesses are facing acute challenges of low unemployment and a mismatch of skills and vacancies. The labour market is extremely tight. Unemployment was 3% (lower than the UK rate of 3.8%) for December 2022 to February 2023.

And all that exacerbates the long-term trends in Scotland, as identified by the National Strategy for Economic Transformation, which are creating a skills shortage.

Firstly, there is reduced migration due to Brexit, meaning we are more dependent on home-grown talent.

Secondly, an ageing population means an aging workforce with obvious consequences.

And thirdly, one in five of Scotland’s working-age population is classified as “inactive”.

That’s largely due to temporary or long-term health problems.

The 2020 Scottish Employer Skills Survey confirmed that the skills mismatch is a significant issue for employers. That either means somebody’s experience and qualifications are under-utilised in the job they have, or that an employer cannot fill a vacancy with somebody who has the requisite skills and abilities.

So, it has never been more important to ensure our young people access learning and training to meet Scotland’s skills needs, and pursue their ambitions. And that means earning whilst learning, studying and working simultaneously.

An apprenticeship means they gain experience whilst acquiring head knowledge. The transformational element of this suggestion is that apprenticeships should not be restricted to a few occupations or considered only for a certain cohort of pupils. Instead, it should be as close to universally offered as possible.

It should cover nearly all careers and be available to everybody. From the straight-A student to the pupil who struggles with school, from a teacher to an engineer, there should be the option to pursue an apprenticeship.

It already works in countless careers, but it should be offered in more. Most trainee nurses do part-time work as carers. Trainee teachers are required to do placements.

There are already 80 apprenticeship frameworks offered by Skills Development Scotland, including IT, health and construction.

I recall visiting a successful tech business that had offered cyber apprenticeships in collaboration with a Scottish university. They trained cyber experts, and it was clear that the apprentices loved the opportunity to work whilst training.

As this generation considers their future, we’ve got an opportunity to offer a new path. But it will take flexible collaboration to design programmes of learning and earning our young people can’t refuse.