OK, so you’ve decided you don’t fancy staying in education but would rather get on and learn by doing an apprenticeship or getting a school leaver job. There’s probably loads of questions going round in your head, most of them negative perceptions of people who don’t go to University. Well, we’ve listed some of the most popular questions people have at this stage…
What will people think of me if I don’t go to Uni?
Does it mean I’m a failure academically?
Sadly in the UK, success is often measured by how academic you are. However, choosing not to go to Uni as a school leaver aged 16 or 18 does not in any way mean you’re a failure academically. In fact, each year over 60,000 of the top academic performing school leavers chose to not go on to higher education. They’re not failures academically and neither are you! There are plenty of more ‘academic’ opportunities which exist outside of University for instance accountancy apprenticeships and legal apprenticeships.
Does is mean I’ll be less successful in a lower-paid job?
As you may be aware, the average graduate earns about £100,000 more over their lifetime than their school leaver peers. However, whilst the salary is nice, not everyone aspires to be doctors, brain surgeons or barristers; a big number of people would rather be doing something they will enjoy over money, and for many this means not going to University.
Also, we can’t assume that going to Uni means you’re going to earn more. There are examples of when doing an apprenticeship can be financially better than the Uni route; an example of this are accountancy apprenticeships through the AAT scheme.
Does it mean I’ll have no prospects for the future?
No degree no future? Not at all. notgoingtouni.co.uk is all about showing you that there are masses of apprenticeships, debt-free study options, jobs and training schemes for school leavers that will give you great prospects for the future.
Does it mean I’ve ruled out education?
University isn’t just for 18 year-olds. If in a few years time you fancy going back to formal education, then you can! As many careers advisers will tell you, education is about lifelong learning and working towards an apprenticeship or whatever you’re looking at doing is still an education. You may not be sat in a lecture hall for hours a day but you’re still learning.
Does it mean I can’t have any fun like my student mates?
It’s true, sadly, anyone who chooses to not go to University must not have a social life, must be home by 6 each evening. So we’ve decided to offer you the alternative student lifestyle…debt free! Plenty of school leavers not going to Uni instead choose to live the student life at weekends, perhaps visiting mates at different Uni’s wherever they are.
Does it mean I’ll always be lagging behind graduates?
On this point we’ll leave you with a story of a school leaver called Rob. Rob left school with A*/A grades at GCSE, chose to work towards a surveying apprenticeship before moving into engineering. Being a quick learner, he soon rose through the ranks in his firm. By the time his mates who had gone off to Uni were graduating, Rob was managing graduate trainees, always maintaining superiority through his career.
