apprenticeships
But a growing number of UK companies are offering apprenticeships: in 2005/6 there were 175,000 apprentices starting on new schemes; by 2012/13 there were 510,200, according to government figures.
As economies increasingly require high-skilled workers, apprenticeships will fit an important part of the puzzle, by providing hundreds of thousands of individuals with the opportunity to
So is it right to flog apprenticeships as an alternative to higher education?
"The empirical evidence seems to be consistent about a positive effect of apprenticeship on wages only when compared to workers with low education and no apprenticeship training, but not when compared to workers having completed full-time vocational education." https://www.google.co.uk/?gfe_rd=cr&ei=18f5VK_vC6rj8wfTq4KgBA#q=research+how+effective+are+apprenticeships
Ryan P., K. Wagner, S. Teuber, U. Backes-Gellner, 2010. Trainee Pay in Britain, Germany and Switzerland: Markets and Institutions SKOPE Research Paper No. 96 July.