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07Nov2016

I’ve Dropped Out Of University - What Now?

Rhys access training courses, learn a trade

Dropped out of uni what now

So you’ve dropped out of university – now what?

It is completely valid if you feel lost or confused after making the decision to drop out of uni - it is a decision that takes a lot of courage and maturity! So before anything else, give yourself a big pat on the back and take a deep breath, everything will work out.

It’s perfectly natural to decide that your course wasn’t what you expected, or to find living away from home too hard or expensive, or maybe you simply didn't enjoy the university lifestyle. There is nothing undignified about changing your mind once you’re there. In fact, more than 40,000 undergraduate students dropped out of university in 2022/23, so you aren’t alone!

Whatever the reason, it isn’t the end of the world. University is not the only path to a successful life and career. However, with so much pressure from schools and parents put on students to attend uni, many students do not even consider the other career routes you can take which will provide you with just as prosperous a future.

If you are one of the thousands who discovered that university doesn’t necessarily give you ‘the best three years of your life' and are searching for a new direction to go in, then read on - there is something better suited for you out there somewhere.

1) Apprenticeships

Apprenticeships are in many ways a better alternative to university. As opposed to a long, drawn-out university course, an apprenticeship is like a paid work placement where you learn valuable new skills and gain experience while you practise them. Apprenticeships can provide routes into various different industries and careers just as well as university courses can, from social care to engineering and IT.

Apprenticeships are also much more cost-efficient than university, as you can earn while you learn. This means you won’t have to suffer crippling debts brought on by years in university, with the added insecurity of having to find your own job after the course. So, if you're not sure what to do after dropping out of uni, why not consider an apprenticeship?

2) Choose a Different Course

Unless you’re certain about choosing a particular university course, it can be difficult to know for sure if you’ve picked the right one. You might find that a few weeks into the course it doesn't feel right for you or it wasn’t what you expected - this is natural and a problem easily solved.

If the course isn’t your cup of tea, but you enjoy the university lifestyle, it’s never too late to simply apply for a different course. If anything, it might give you a fresh start, a new boost of energy and make you think about your future in a completely different way. Changing course is a great alternative to dropping out of uni completely, just make sure you choose your replacement course carefully!

3) Take a Gap Year

Lots of people that aren't sure what to do after they've dropped out of university opt to take a gap year. This is a great option if you can’t decide what course to re-apply for or the timing is not quite right for you. Perhaps you just need a chance to find what direction you want your life to take.

In this case, taking a gap year might be a chance to take a well-earned break, reconsider, and plan ahead. With so little time between secondary school and university to decide what you want to do next, it’s hard to be sure that university is the right option until you’re actually there.

Leaving university and taking a gap year to travel, work, think, and enjoy yourself is a great way of biding time to carefully consider your options, and perhaps an entirely new and unexpected route will open up before you.

4) Work Full-Time

While in university, you might become restless and feel an urge to get out into the working world as soon as possible. This is especially true if you aren’t happy with your chosen course, and is definitely a common motive for dropping out of university.

Working full time with the qualifications you gained from school is certainly a rewarding experience and can help make you into a self-sufficient, independent adult. That being said, there are a lot of jobs that will require education of A-level standard or higher. If you have dropped out of uni and are finding it hard to find work, it could be really beneficial to gain some additional skills for your CV.

You could try learn a new language, sign up for an art class, take a marketing course - the list goes on! Getting stuck back into learning on your own terms is great to build your confidence and boost your CV for future employers.

5) Learn a Trade

An increasingly popular and stable route for university dropouts is pursuing a career in the trade industry. Perhaps, after having gone to university, you realise that your particular skills are better suited to practical, hands-on work, rather than the tedium of academia. Learning a trade is a great way to harness those skills and turn them into a lucrative career.

Private colleges like us at Access Training provide a wide range of training courses from plumbing and gas engineering to electrical and tiling, all designed to produce highly qualified tradespeople.

With expert tutors, excellent facilities and well-designed courses, Access Training provide the best preparation for working in the trade industry.

Although university is a great opportunity for a large portion of young people, and it’s true that picking the right course can excel you through the working world, this isn’t the case for everybody.

If you have just dropped out of uni and are thinking 'what now?', contact us to enquire about a trade skills course with Access Training today. Our course advisors are always available to talk you through your options.

Browse Our Trade Courses >

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We’re career change experts and we’ve trained thousands of people who have decided to take a new direction and train towards a trade job. However, if you’re considering shaking things up, stop and think – is it really your career you need to change? And if so, how are you going to go about it?

More...

05Apr2017

Are You Making a Career Change Mistake?

Rhys access training courses

Dropped out of uni what now

So you’ve dropped out of university – now what?

Dropped out of uni...what now?

Apprenticeships
Choose a Different Course
Take a Gap Year
Work Full-Time
Learn a Trade

1) Apprenticeships

2) Choose a Different Course

3) Take a Gap Year

4) Work Full-Time

5) Learn a Trade

With expert tutors, excellent facilities and well-designed courses, Access Training provide the best preparation for working in the trade industry.

Browse Our Trade Courses >

07Nov2016

I’ve Dropped Out Of University - What Now?

Rhys access training courses, learn a trade

The government recently announced plans to put a levy on employers to ensure that a certain percentage of new employees are apprentices. This new call to arms for apprentices has shown a determination from the government to improve the prospects of young apprentices across the country, and is a positive step forward.

However, how will this affect employers? How do they feel about having to accept more apprentices to their businesses? Having pondered about this question, we decided to compare three main employees and answer an important question: Who would best suit your organisation’s circumstances: apprentices, temporary employees or fixed employees?

If you are a business owner yourself and are struggling with this very question, or if you are considering how best to look for employment, then this article should hopefully provide you with some valuable information… read on! More...

28Sep2016

Who to Hire: An Apprentice, a Temp, or a Fixed Term Employee?

Rhys access training courses, trade news

Every job has its difficulties, and no single job offers pure enjoyment each and every single day.

Having said that, there is a crucial difference between facing challenges and difficulties in your job, and being unhappy, overworked and dissatisfied in your day-to-day working life.

Sometimes, the answer isn’t to grin and bear what hardships your job throws at you. If it means sacrificing your health and happiness, it might be about time to consider leaving it for something better suited to you and your life.

Read on to discover some common issues in the workplace, as well as learning the difference between the natural challenge of work and an unhealthy and dissatisfying battle with your job. More...

11Aug2016

Common Workplace Problems: 7 Signs That You Should Leave Your Current Job

Rhys access training courses, learn a trade

Time is precious. The pace of today’s lifestyle is seemingly unending, the day’s too short; finding time to fit in all of life’s demands, committing to family and friends, and having a successful working life, can sometimes feel impossible to achieve.

However, optimising your time to the best of your ability will contribute greatly to your general wellbeing. Cutting back on unnecessary time wasting is an essential part of happy living, and can greatly reduce stress, anxiety and frustration, whilst allowing you more opportunities to unwind and enjoy.

Here are 6 top tips on optimising your time, and for being the most productive worker you can be: More...

26Jul2016

Training Without Disrupting Everyday Life: 6 Tips for Optimising Your Time

Rhys access training courses, learn a trade

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...

20Jun2016

6 Surprising Advantages of Learning a Course Away From Home

Rhys access training courses

Fast Track Courses can be a good way to learn a trade quickly, if you choose an effective training course.

When deciding to enrol on a training course offered by a private training college such as Access Training, you 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...

16Jun2016

Are Fast Track Courses Any Good?

Rhys access training courses, learn a trade

Earlier today, George Clarke, a TV personality best known for presenting Restoration man, and George Clarke’s Amazing places posted a tweet raising awareness of the critical skills shortage we are currently experiencing in the UK Construction Industry.

To say that this tweet received some interesting reply s on how people thought the industry could change to help encourage more people into learning a skilled trade.

"The wage is shocking"

Some people responded by saying that the wages for skilled workers are poor, and that the wage needs to increase to encourage more people to train. This is a common misconception about skilled work. When you are a fully trained electrician, plumber or bricklayer, you could be earning up to £100,000 per year, well above the national average wage of £26,500.

"People are being encouraged to go to university instead of learning a trade"

Other people were voicing concerns over the fact that children are being encouraged to go to university instead of learning a practical trade. However, not everybody wants to attend university. Many people don’t like the idea of carrying on their education for an extra 3 or 4 years, to then leave with an extraordinary amount of debt and not have a guaranteed job at the end of it all.

By informing children that there are other routes to work, and well-paid work, we might add. Is a crucial step that needs to be taken to close the current skill gap. This will only happen if the education system and the construction industry come together to help educate the next generation. This is a topic we have written about in the past, and it is certainly an area leaders of the construction industry are keen to explore to see if more can be done to help raise awareness and educate children, not just at school leaving age, but throughout their time in education about the importance of skilled trade’s people.

"You can't get stable work"

This is another misconception about skilled trade work. Plumbers and Electricians, be it domestic or commercially trained, are always in demand. People are always going to need plumbers and electricians to help them out in an emergency, or need an electrician to wire a newly built house. To increase your chances of winning work over your competitors, you can easily expand your skill set so you can take on more specialist jobs, or a wider variety of work.

Currently the industry is is crying out for more Plumbers, Electricians and bricklayers that the chance of you landing a contract shortly after you have completed your course, is incredibly high. Thus making this the perfect time to begin learning a trade.

Here, at Access Training we offer a variety of courses for people who are looking to learn a trade. All of our courses are designed for the complete beginner, and will take you on a journey through to becoming a true industry expert. So if you are interested in becoming a Bricklayer, Electrician or a Plumber, don't hesitate to get in touch!

05Apr2016

Channel 4 Presenter Calls for “More Brickies, Plumbers and Electricians”

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While many of the courses we offer at Access Training are intended to help candidates kick-start or advance their chosen career, we also realize that many individuals want to learn essential trade skills from a non-professional start point, with a view to improve their own homes.

Thanks to the rise in thrifty living sites and DIY blogs, many people now prefer to get hands on with home-improvement projects, in order to save money on labour costs and exercise total control over their desired outcome. Here at Access Training, we recognize the need for a variety of training options as opposed to a 'one size fits all' policy, which is why we offer a variety of DIY training courses.

Whether you're seeking to perfect your wallpapering and painting skills, or if you want to get clued up on carpentry, we have a number of courses available on our site that will allow you to advance your ability in no time. By the end of the course, you will have gained practical skills and knowledge of your chosen area, which you will then be able to translate to all your future DIY projects. Of course, if you do feel that you've found your new life calling on one of our DIY courses, we would be more than happy to help you progress onto more advanced options.

We offer DIY training in all of the following areas:

As you can see from the selection above, there are a number of DIY training options available, which should cover a multitude of design and improvement projects throughout your home. If you would like to learn a combination of skills, we also provide the option to progress onto another DIY course to compliment your training.

If you have browsed our DIY courses and find that one of them catches your attention, please feel free to contact the Access Training team for more information.

15Jan2016