Apprenticeships have been around since the Middle Ages. They started when members of craft guilds would take on young people in exchange for food, lodging and formal training. This type of vocational education was a valued career path.
Even back then apprenticeships played a vital role in developing a skilled, adaptable and future‑ready workforce. With periods of time across Europe where you could only practice a craft if you had completed an apprenticeship.
The guilds also served as an early type of union, making sure that workers were treated fairly, trained properly and paid what they were owed.
In the UK, the first national apprenticeship system of training was introduced in the mid 1500s, and although popularity waned in the following years, by the 1960s a third of all boys leaving school were entering into apprenticeships.
The reason for the increased popularity was that the types of apprenticeships available had become more varied. Teenagers no longer had to choose between being a hatter or a nailer (someone who makes steel nails by hand), they could instead enter newer more exciting industries like shipbuilding, engineering and plumbing.
But by the 1990s, popularity had decreased again. Critics said that apprenticeship routes were too restrictive, and learners didn’t see them as exciting.
As University attendance rose in the UK, some started to see apprenticeships as a less prestigious educational route. But this is in stark contrast to other European countries, like the Netherlands and Germany, where apprenticeships are almost or as popular as other academic routes.
Apprenticeships have a PR problem in the UK, but the reality is they offer a serious route to skilled workers and strong careers.
They don’t limit a person's earning potential, recent research* even suggests that half of UK graduates would be better off if they had completed an apprenticeship.
They don’t provide a lesser education; many apprenticeship qualifications are ‘degree-equivalent’ or offer real world experience that’s just as valuable.
They aren’t limited to ‘old fashioned’ industries. You can train to be an AI Content Creator, a HGV Driver / Bus Driver or work in Data.
And they aren’t just a young person’s game anymore! Although some fully funded courses are limited to under 21s, most organisations can at least part-fund using the Apprenticeship Levy or Levy matching for people of any age.
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