Are apprenticeships a genuine alternative to university study? : an investigation using administrative data

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While the call for "parity of esteem" has persisted in the UK for over 70 years, the question of whether a "cross-over point" has remained a highly contested one.Research prior to the increase of the cap on tuition fees in 2010, suggests that there is no parity of esteem between academic and vocational qualifications in the labourmarket(Robinson, 1997). Research has also suggested a possible change in people'sviews of academic vs vocational training with a recent survey finding 45% of the publicsay apprenticeships are better than university degrees for preparing young people forthe future, while 44% say both are equally good (Kirk, 2022). Notably, there is rising public investment and visible governmental push towards vocational training including the apprenticeship levy (DoE, 2021). This suggests a gap between empirical data, public perception and government policy. As such, there is a need for more in-depth research on understanding the economic reality of academic vs vocational training. Theresults of this project thereby, stand to be very crucial particularly for public policy around employment, education and social mobility. This project also has the potential to provide vital empirical evidence to place the powerful political rhetoric around parity of esteem in perspective. This project is at the intersection of economics, education and policy.