Schools and employers need to do more to prepare young people for work

A survey of parents of 11-18 year olds has revealed that 82 per cent of parents believe schools and employers need to work more closely to prepare their children for the workplace.

The survey, commissioned by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), also highlights that despite 78 per cent of parents believing work experience provides the best way for young people to gain employability skills, only 32 per cent of them agree that employers are actually doing enough to provide that work experience.

Fifty-six per cent of parents are confident about the careers advice that they give their children and 54 per cent are happy with the advice provided by school. Previous CMI research shows that 77 per cent of young people say that parents are their number one source of advice when leaving school.

CMI’s research found that around half of parents (49 per cent) think schools are still promoting traditional university routes over non-traditional routes, such as apprenticeships - up from 45 per cent in 2017.

Thirty-two per cent agree that their child‘s school only promotes apprenticeships to less academic children – a stark reminder that there’s still some way to go in changing the traditional perception of apprenticeships as a second class career route.

As well as work-only apprenticeship options for young people, management apprenticeships offer a complementary alternative to academic-only learning, with the advantage of an income, work experience and skills growth.

CMI partners with 125 universities in the UK to offer a wide variety of management apprenticeships, from Level 3 team leader progressing through to MBA-level. Companies offering Chartered Management Degree Apprenticeships include Barclays, Boots, Nestle, Unilever, BBC and United Utilities.

More than 10,000 workers are currently enrolled on CMI management apprenticeships in the UK.