This perception was viewed from two perspectives . Firstly , some participants identified apprenticeships as being more suitable for those young people who were lower academic achievers . This suggested a negative connotation of the apprenticeship route .
You don ’ t really need like outstanding grades to get into them [ apprenticeships ] if you know what I mean ; they ’ re sort of like base level grades so there more achievable for most people ( Participant school B )
I feel like some people aren ’ t that academically talented , so they feel like they don ’ t want to carry on with education ( Participant school A )
Other participants felt apprenticeships were more about personal learning styles and preferences , thus presenting a positive viewpoint about apprenticeships .
Some people really like doing practical things and some people prefer to study ( Participant school D )
I think I ’ m more academic in that I ’ d like going into a lesson and making notes and stuff and then I revise for a test , I don ’ t enjoy the idea of having to learn whilst also on the job ( Participant school C )
Limited knowledge
Whilst all participants had some knowledge of apprenticeships , the knowledge they had gathered from school was often limited and vague and potentially acts as a barrier to apprenticeship progression .
I haven ’ t really heard a lot about apprenticeships really , especially not from this school , when I had my careers interview , they didn ’ t tell me a lot about it ( Participant school A )
For some , they appeared passive to any information they had received about apprenticeships , suggesting the apprenticeship route was not at the forefront of their mind . Further to this , whilst most participants knew at least one person who had or was undertaking an
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