Over 60% of young people in the UK feel inadequately prepared for the world of work by the time they leave school, according to new research from GetMyFirstJob.
The apprenticeship match-making platform, which processes over 30,000 job applications each month, also found that the vast majority of young people (92%) believe their school prioritises exam results rather than career advice and development for students.
Almost everyone surveyed (98 percent) believe that more can be done at school and college level to help students find an apprenticeship, with only 34 percent believing that their school or college provided sufficient information about apprenticeships and their benefits.
63% stated they would have been given more support by their school should they have chosen to go to university, with only 17% advised to explore apprenticeships as an alternative route to work.
David Allison, Managing Director of GetMyFirstJob said: “Whilst attitudes towards apprenticeships and other career options aside from university have changed in recent years, it appears that too many secondary schools are still not sufficiently supporting young people with information about these options.”
Allison added: “More work needs to be done amongst schools, colleges and training providers to ensure everyone involved is fully aware of the huge variety of avenues to work that are now available to school leavers.”
GetMyFirstJob, which has seen 250,000 candidates register since launch in 2012, frequently uses its unique position to gain insight into young people’s perspectives.
In the survey, college and university degrees were the most talked about career and education options in UK schools, with 68% of young people saying they discussed the former with careers advisors and 63% the latter. Traineeships ranked the lowest discussed, with just 10% saying they discussed such schemes with their career advisors. The most preferred age for receiving careers advice was 14 (31%), closely followed by 15 (27%).
Despite the negative reaction to careers advice amongst those surveyed, three out of four of the 16- 25 year old respondents said they mostly enjoyed their time at school.
This article was originally published on Youth Employment UK.
