Fred McConnell Smith was surprised to discover how many other middle-class young Britons are choosing an apprenticeship over university – Paul Grover for The Telegraph
Fred McConnell Smith owes his double-barrelled surname and middle-class upbringing to two graduates – a lecturer and a teacher. But as the sun set on his schooling, he enrolled on an apprenticeship rather than going to university.
In the weeks that followed his decision, he unwittingly developed an image of himself as a “trailblazer”. When he met his fellow trainee consultants, however, he was far from the sole middle-class emissary.
“I must admit, I was surprised by how many went to private and grammar schools,” he says.
The idea that apprenticeships are predominantly a leg up for the disadvantaged has been borne out of attempts by successive governments to cure youth unemployment in post-industrial Britain through a focus on technical skills, which has had mixed success.
Yet for much of British history, apprenticeships were the work route of choice for the middle class. From the 18th century until the 20th century, when university education was popularised, aspirational middle-class families would pay fees to enrol their children as apprentices, explains Prof Patrick Wallis, a historian at the London School of Economics.
Now, amid rising graduate debt and an uncertain job market, apprenticeships are becoming the focus of middle-class aspirations once again.
For the majority of the second half of the last decade, the share of young apprenticeships started by those from the poorest backgrounds was consistently higher than those from the richest, according to data from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
However, at the very end of the 2010s and into the early 2020s, the tide started to turn, and the proportion of enrolments from the wealthiest postcodes began to overtake that of the most deprived. Since 2022, the gap has widened considerably.
The data also show that, last year, the wealthiest areas took up the largest share of young apprenticeships since comparable records began. There were 3,370 more apprentices under 25 from the richest postcodes compared with the poorest in 2024-25.
This is down in part to how, in recent years, the wealthiest under 25s have opened up a lead against their poorer counterparts in competition for careers in the business, law and administration sectors.
Among these “white-collar” industries, apprenticeship starts by those from the wealthiest postcodes in 2024-25 went up by 600 people, a rise of 6.6pc compared with 2023-24, while there were 430 fewer white-collar apprentices from the poorest areas, a drop of 6pc.
This represented the widest year-on-year growth difference between the two groups since the Department for Education started collecting the data.
Amid widespread fears that AI will aggravate an already stretched graduate job market, apprenticeships which offer a degree and a job are an ever-precious prospect for those who aspire to be young professionals.
This “win-win” combination led Isha Patel to opt for an apprenticeship at a global bank when she turned 18, despite her independent education at Headington Rye in Oxford setting her on course for an elite university. Without the offer of a part-time funded degree at University of Exeter, the City sales associate says it would have been “a very different conversation” with her parents.
Anna Welch, 20, is a third-year solicitor apprentice at international law firm Pinsent Masons in London. She similarly opted against the traditional path into law.
“Both my parents, my step-mum, my grandparents and aunts and uncles went to university. There was an unspoken assumption that I would too,” she says. “University felt like three years of doing the same thing and then you’re just exposed to applications to find your way into the real world of work.”
Asked about the rising wave of student debt she would have had looming over her as a law graduate, she says: “I think once all my friends are starting to pay back their loan, that’s when I will feel really smug.”
But as degree apprenticeships become more in-demand, the application processes are becoming ever more gruelling.
Lucy Grayson attended a grammar school and applied for a degree apprenticeship scheme which led to her becoming a senior economist at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. She likened the application process to applying to Cambridge.
But just as job market conditions and high student debt spur enthusiasm for the route, the number of apprenticeship places available to under-25s aspiring to work in high-end professions is flatlining.
Apprenticeship figures have fluctuated in recent times but the total number of vacancies has fallen successively in the last four years, according to government figures. Last year, the number of places available was around half what it was in 2021.
Earlier this year, the government of Sir Keir Starmer, the former prime minister, reduced the incentive for employers to employ older apprentices in an effort to kill the trend which saw 57pc of new apprenticeships being awarded to individuals aged 25 or older last year. It remains unclear whether this alone will lead to a significant new supply of young apprentices, however.
A DWP spokesman said: “Every young person deserves the chance to earn or learn, no matter their background.
“We are reforming the apprenticeships system so more young people from every postcode can take them up and our wider £2.5bn youth employment support package includes financial support for care leavers and a new apprenticeship bursary for families on Universal Credit.”
When he took office last month, Andy Burnham pledged to reduce the number of 18 to 24-year-olds now classified as Neet (not in education, employment or training), which surpassed one million in May.
Since then, he has announced that children aged 14 and older who do not aspire to university will be given greater chances to choose technical training rather than academic education. He also said parents on benefits could receive up to £4,500 a year to replace the Universal Credit payments they would lose if their children started an apprenticeship.
“From today, Britain will value the hard hat as much as the graduation cap,” he proclaimed, alongside his promise of “growth in every postcode”.
It seems that, increasingly, those in Britain’s leafy middle-class suburbs may agree with him.
