
Last month, when the first students to study Engineering and Manufacturing T Levels in England received their results (these two-year technical qualifications, designed to give students the skills that industry needs),
Enginuity — the charity dedicated to finding new ways to close skills gaps in UK engineering and manufacturing — published the results of research that revealed a change in attitudes towards technical and vocational qualifications like T Levels.
Parents and children aged 11-18 in 1,000 households throughout England were surveyed, with the results revealing a significant shift in attitudes towards vocational routes into employment. Nearly 90% of parents and are now more interested in vocational routes for their children to enter their chosen careers instead of the traditional university path, while 82% of the children surveyed said they would be interested in more vocational routes to enter their chosen career.
Enginuity said this shift is largely driven by the escalating costs associated with university education. “For many parents, the prospect of saddling their children with significant debt is becoming less appealing. Parents are also recognising that vocational education, particularly in technology-based careers, offers a pragmatic and financially viable alternative. Indeed, 89% of parents and 80% of children agreed that hands-on experience is now more critical than purely academic qualifications for certain tech careers.
“This sentiment is especially strong among parents aged 45-54, with 91% affirming the importance of practical skills over theoretical knowledge. Parents said the most important reasons for supporting their children taking more vocational routes were to help them develop skills that better prepared them for the workplace (56%) or to gain skills specific to the career they want to go into (54%).”
Another significant finding from the survey is the growing interest in apprenticeships as a means to ‘earn while you learn’, with 93% of parents wanting to learn more about apprenticeship opportunities for their children. This interest peaks among parents of 15-year-olds, with 97% keen on exploring this route.