Degree Apprenticeships - A Guide With Answers To FAQs
Would you love to go to university to gain a degree, but you’re worried about amassing a load of debt as a student? And you want to get real hands-on work experience in a relevant environment, but you also want to earn a decent wage rather than working for nothing, don’t you?
Then it sounds like a Degree Apprenticeship could be the perfect career pathway for you!
Launched in 2015, UK Degree Apprenticeships are still a relatively new option for young people - but they can be the ideal way for you to get into the workplace in a meaningful way.
Degree Apprenticeships mean you’ll be working for an employer - but with time at university too - so you’ll come out with a degree qualification as well as some solid work experience too. And you’ll do the whole thing without graduating with a huge tuition fee debt!
Check out the latest Degree Apprenticeship vacancies below now. And also take a look at the most pressing questions which young people have about Degree Apprenticeships further down the page...
Although not exclusively, Degree Apprenticeships tend to be done by 18 and 19 year old school leavers in the UK.
Put simply, your employer will pay for a third of the cost of your degree, whilst the UK government will pick up the bill for the other two-thirds (up to £18,000). This is what allows you to complete the degree without incurring tuition fees yourself.
If you do a Level 6 Degree Apprenticeship you’ll qualify with a full bachelor’s degree. A Level 7 Degree Apprenticeship will see you qualify with a master’s degree.
Depending on the level of Degree Apprenticeship you commit to, it will last for between 3 and 6 years.
You will work full time (minimum of 30 hours a week for a minimum of 30 weeks per year) throughout your apprenticeship so will be entitled to a wage and 21 days holiday per year, plus Bank Holidays.
You will receive at least the UK Apprentice minimum wage (currently £3.90 an hour) but many top employers, such as the ones above, will pay you more than that. Indeed, many employers will pay more than double the minimum wage for apprentices.
How much pay you actually receive will ultimately depend on a variety of factors, including:
There are over 100 different types of individual Degree Apprenticeship which you can study at Level 6 or Level 7 in the private sector, but they all broadly fall under the following categories:
If you are interested in working in the public sector, then you can also do Level 6 Degree Apprenticeships as a Police Constable or Probation Officer.
At the time of writing, around 30 UK universities are offering Degree Apprenticeships. However, it’s worth noting that you might not be studying at the actual campus. Many classes are now held online or at a facility closer to where you live and work.
It depends on which Degree Apprenticeship you are doing, who your employer is and which university you are applying to. It’s best to check on the careers websites of the employers you are interested in and the universities you are thinking of applying to.
The main benefit of doing Degree Apprenticeship jobs is that you’ll gain a full bachelor’s or master’s degree, whilst actually getting relevant work experience and decent pay - without building up student debt. A debt which can amount to more than £50,000 for students who take the traditional university route, according to the Institute of Fiscal Studies.
You’ll gain other enviable skills for your CV, such as:
You can find lots of different types of Degree Apprenticeships vacancies right here on the e4s student jobs website. Check out some of the top employers featured above these FAQs or browse all of the latest vacancies below now!
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