Apprentices set to out earn some Graduates

The Boston Consulting Group has modelled the earnings potential for Apprentices and concluded that school-leavers who take the best apprenticeships should earn about £1.4m over their working life, which is £51,870 more than the projected earnings of a graduate from a non-Russell Group University. The modelling estimated that Oxbridge graduates would earn almost £1.8m over their lifetimes, and graduates from other Russell Group universities £1.6m. The next group was Higher-Level Apprentices who take a level 5 qualification equivalent to a foundation degree, who were slightly ahead of graduates of non-Russell Group universities. These graduates were only fractionally ahead of higher-level Apprentices with a Level 4 qualification, who were projected to earn £8,160 less over their working lives.

Advanced Apprentices with level 3 qualifications had much lower projected earning power, estimated at just over £1m, but were forecast to earn more than those who just had A levels. When the forecasts were expressed as average annual sum, rather than lifetime earnings, graduates did better than the best Apprentices. However, apprentices typically start earning three years earlier than university students.