As a parent, your child’s future is of paramount importance to you, especially in today’s unstable working climate. This is why alternative career paths are becoming increasingly popular over the traditional university path. 

Parents around the country are to be forgiven for putting all their faith in universities to provide their child with a safeguarded future. It is believed that university is a way of guaranteeing a successful, or at least stable career.

However, this used to be true, but it sadly isn’t the case today. With so many people now in higher education and gaining degrees, the market is so competitive that those with degrees no longer have the edge they once had. Nowadays, the apparent safety of the university option is much weaker than it used to be which is why so many are considering alternative career paths.  

In fact, university often causes the following concerning questions;

• How will we fund the extortionate cost of our child’s university education?
• Will our child ever be able to pay off their student debt? 
• Will they be able to find a job after their degree, even if we do manage to afford it? 

University is not necessarily the best way for a school leaver, and certainly not the only way to guarantee a secure, successful career. 

University Does Not Suit Everybody

Over the last decade or so, schools and governments have emphasised the importance and benefits of a university education - but the truth is, it isn’t suitable for everybody.

If your child isn’t particularly academic but has thrived in more practical, hands-on subjects at school, then it might be worthwhile looking at an alternative career - for example, a career in trades.

The UK Trade Industry Is On The Rise

The UK trade industry is currently rebuilding itself at a rapid rate, enjoying strong job security and healthy wages. However, it is currently starved of workers in the UK and is suffering a huge skills shortage. It requires a new surge of labourers to supply a new generation of tradespeople.

With several large-scale projects proposed by the government in the next five years and thousands of homes being built to accommodate the rising population, both demand and wages for tradespeople are very high - it’s more a matter of jobs seeking tradespeople than tradespeople seeking jobs.

It Works Out Cheaper Than University

Studying at an alternative career path in a private college, such as Access Training, works out far cheaper than it’d cost for a three or four-year university degree.

With universities costing thousands upon thousands per term, today’s students are lucky to graduate without being thousands of pounds in debt.

At Access Training, a plumbing, electrical, or gas course cost a fraction of the money needed for three or more years of university tuition fees and all the other costs such as rent, food and bills.

It Takes Less Time to Become Qualified

A typical university course lasts three years - that’s three years of studying before your child gets the opportunity to start earning. And even then, finding well-paid work soon after university is difficult. Chances are, your child might also be in a mountain of debt.

A course at Access Training takes just a matter of weeks and, equipped with a work placement at the end of the course, your child will be propelled into the working world, as a fully qualified trades worker. 

So in the same amount of time it’d take to complete a university degree, you could re-earn the money paid for a training course in an alternative career path ten times over. The question won’t be ‘how long until I’ll be debt free?’, but rather ‘how long until I make back what I invested into the course?’.

It’s Financially Rewarding

Not only is the demand and job security high in the trade, but tradespeople are very well rewarded for their services. Average wages for plumbers, electricians and gas engineers are around £27,000 a year on average, but there are increasing accounts of tradespeople earning anything between £40,000-£100,000 per year, due to the sheer lack of competition and constant demand.

Take the owner of Pimlico Plumbers, Charlie Mullins, for example, the ‘millionaire plumber’ who says that ‘demand for [his] services’ has ‘soared’ in recent years. But the workforce is struggling to keep up with that demand, meaning those who are in the industry ‘can earn up to £100,000 a year’. 

If ever there was a good time to be a tradesperson, that time is now.

Choose Access Training

Ultimately, unless your child has a clear academic motivation, studying at a university may not be the most suitable option. It could result in thousands of pounds’ worth of unnecessary costs, three years or more of valuable time, and all for a degree which may not guarantee your child a stable career or job.

The alternative is far cheaper, far more likely to result in a rewarding, secure career, and will take far less time to achieve. This provides your child with the chance to live and work independently, allowing them the dignifying freedom to be self-sufficient adults.

Does an alternative career path sound appealing to you? Enquire today about a course at Access Training or call us on 0800 345 7492. Our course advisers are always happy to answer any queries you may have.

Travelling long distances to and from your learning centre, day upon day, week upon week, can easily become too difficult and costly to sustain. Regardless of how much you enjoy the course itself, the long commute can quickly sap you of time, energy and enthusiasm, while also incurring unnecessary extra costs.

Travelling away from home to learn a new trade skill or course can be daunting, but these six advantages of learning away from home will surprise you and ease your worries. More...

Becoming self-employed and being your own boss is a dream that many of us share – and for good reason! Although being your own boss can be challenging, the freedom and benefits of becoming self-employed can be life changing.

Considering making the jump yourself? Here are 6 reasons why becoming your own boss could be the perfect career choice for you…

 1. Independence & Creative Freedom

Working for yourself means that you can set your own direction without having to follow strict guidelines set out by a company. This means you can explore new ideas and creative approaches without fear of rejection from management and other team members. Your business will therefore become something that is uniquely yours, reflecting your values and vision.

2. Work-Life Balance

Being your own boss means you can set your own schedule, enabling you to plan your workday around your own existing commitments instead of being chained to the usual 9-5. This flexible schedule allows for you to spend more time doing the things you love with the people you love – without needing permission first!

3. Pursue Your Passions

Working for yourself also means that you can select clients and projects that align with your specific interests and expertise. For example, if you prefer doing domestic trade jobs in your local area in comparison to large construction projects further afield, you can choose to do domestic jobs every day and only carry out work that you enjoy doing and feel confident in.

4. Potential Higher Earnings

If you are employed by someone else and receiving a fixed income, then no matter how hard you work, it will always be a struggle to raise your salary. One of the greatest benefits of being your own boss is that there is no salary cap and you are in control of what you earn. Your earnings will depend entirely on how hard you work and the opportunities you are able to find.

5. Personal Growth

Being your own boss requires you to take on a wide variety of roles—including manager, accountant, marketer, customer service assistant and more. Having such a diverse set of responsibilities pushes you to learn new skills and overcome obstacles independently. This can lead to a huge increase in confidence, skill development and overall personal growth.

6. Greater Job Satisfaction

There is a different level of satisfaction that comes from seeing your ideas come to fruition and directly impact your business’s success. If you are working a job where you feel easily replaceable and like the work you do goes unnoticed, you are likely to lose interest.

Tradespeople are a vital and respected part of society whose services will be needed for as long as the population continues to grow. This means that there is always a place for new tradespeople in society and there is little chance of you feeling undervalued or unneeded if you start your own trade business!

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So, if you’ve had enough of working for other people, join the hundreds of other Access Training students who have used the skills and qualifications learnt in our training centres to start their own businesses.

Enquire today about a course at Access Training and with the help of our course advisors, you’re bound to find the right trade course for you!

Browse Trade Courses >

Check out our blog What to Consider When Becoming a Self-Employed Tradesperson for more information to help you get started!

When deciding to enrol on a training course offered by private training colleges, such as Access Training, some might feel suspicious - after all, how can a trade, something traditionally considered to require years of experience, be taught to a high enough standard in only a matter of weeks?

At first glance, it certainly seems implausible, but when you take a closer look into what the old-style apprenticeship process actually consists of, you might be more inclined to think otherwise.More...