Harry Parsons, a trainee in Nottinghamshire with national housebuilder Bellway, says his joinery apprenticeship is proving to be a great alternative to going to university.
As he prepared to leave school, Harry weighed up his career and study options and picked an apprenticeship rather than staying in education, and he now works for Bellway at its NG2 development in West Bridgford.
Now 19-years-old, he says: “I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do when I left school and even considered applying for university. Then I found out that I could do an apprenticeship with Bellway and decided that this was the perfect way to gain a mixture of skills. Being trained on the job really appealed to me.”
Harry is in now in the third and final year of his Level 3 NVQ and believes the company has offered him a lot of help and support throughout his apprenticeship. “I know a lot of people who have chosen to go down the apprenticeship route,” he says. “The great thing is that you can gain real-life practical skills, which you just can’t learn in a classroom. I’m really glad I made the decision to do an apprenticeship with Bellway and would definitely recommend it to anyone. I’m hoping to train as a site manager eventually.”
In March, the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) published research that found those who chose to go into construction careers through apprenticeships earn significantly more than those who were university graduates. According to the report, the average university graduate in England earns around £32,000 a year, whereas the average qualified bricklayer or joiner is typically earning around £42,000 a year as a national average.
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