Top apprenticeships are more elitist than degrees and are being colonised by the middle classes, a report says.
The research conducted by the London School of Economics and the University of Surrey for the Sutton Trust, a social mobility charity, shows that the overall number of apprenticeship starts declined sharply between 2015 and 2020.
Poorer school-leavers are particularly under-represented in higher-level apprenticeships, which are akin to an undergraduate or master’s degree. The research shows that a higher proportion of students taking an ordinary degree had been on free school meals than had those who started a degree apprenticeship last year.
These apprenticeships are lucrative opportunities offered by employers, such as Rolls-Royce and PwC.
