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A new survey by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) has shown that 3 in 4 parents think that gaining work experience is the best way for their children to land a good job.

Ahead of today’s GCSE results, the CMI surveyed over 1,000 parents of 11 to 18 year olds to ask them about their children’s career prospects.

The study found that almost three times more parents (73 per cent against 27 per cent) would rather see their kids do a degree which adds full-time work experience into the mix, rather than a traditional university degree which features just lectures and seminars over the course of three years.

Similarly, when asked if they would rather see their children get a degree from Oxbridge or gain a degree apprenticeship with a major employer such as Rolls-Royce, 64 per cent of parents preferred the latter option.

7 in 10 parents also said that having the chance to develop management, enterprise and leadership skills was important to their children’s future careers.

Commenting on the survey’s findings, the CMI’s head of policy, Rob Wall, said: “We know that employers really value work-ready young people and what they can offer. Previous research has found that most employers are already offering structured work experience placements and many of them are working directly with schools to make this happen. We also believe that the government’s T-Level qualifications will really help to see more work experience placements on offer.”

“There are often difficulties with knowing how to reach out to young people, and for some companies it can be difficult to find the time and resources to feel like they can give young people the best experience,. We know that there’s always more that employers can do; particularly around providing specific technical opportunities and reaching out to educators.”

“We’d say that providing a good induction, which gives students the opportunity to understand the business, is really important. Secondly, they need to make sure they’re well prepared through developing a work plan where they get a sense of what it’s like around the business.”

“Employers should provide them with a mentor or buddy to ensure they’re feeling properly supported - or even to just make sure that they’ve got someone to go to lunch with - and provide feedback to let them know how they got on. Human Resources can play an important role in supporting managers to do this and setting the right culture and policies. If they get it right they can get future talent and help to train the workforce of the future,” concluded Mr Wall.