SHE has been paid nearly £100,000 to be an apprentice and has now bought two cars and often goes on posh trips abroad.
With the number of teenagers choosing to do a degree apprenticeship having more than doubled in the past five years, it’s no surprise when you hear Rhian Duncan’s story.
Many apprentices have earned as much as £100,000 over the course of their ‘free’ degree.
Whilst their friends head off to university, which can leave graduates in around £44,000 debt, other 18-year-olds are eagerly opting for a four day a week paid job, with lectures on the fifth.
One of these youngsters is Rhian Duncan, 21, who got ABB in her A-Levels.
As reported by , the brunette beauty turned down places at Newcastle and Bristol when she was just 18 in order to do an apprenticeship.
The youngster headed to car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover for her engineering degree apprenticeship, which she will have completed by next year.
In the past three years, Rhian, who earns £36,000 a year, has bought two cars, and enjoys regular “big” holidays to destinations including Los Angeles and Iceland.
If that wasn’t enough, she’s also planning to buy her own house too.
Next summer, Rhian will graduate with an engineering degree from Warwick University, which has an apprenticeship partnership with Jaguar.
Not only this, but she’ll leave without a penny of student debt too.
What’s more, she would have been paid close to £100,000 over the course of her four-year degree apprenticeship - yes, you heard that correctly.
Rhian confirmed that another fellow apprentice among the cohort of 200 has already bought a house, whilst someone else turned down a place at Cambridge.
With A-Levels in maths, physics and business studies, she said that whilst most of her friends at her girls’ grammar school in Kent went to university, she was keen to do something else.
I have savings and no debt, which seems a bit cheeky to say
Rhian Duncan
She thought: “Why should I pay for something I want if I can be paid for getting it?
“I have savings and no debt, which seems a bit cheeky to say.”
An apprenticeship is a work-based training programme that combines on-the-job experience with classroom learning.
Apprentices earn a wage while gaining practical skills and qualifications.
Apprenticeships are available to anyone over the age of 16, whether they are school leavers, career changers, or individuals looking to upskill.
Applications can be made through the government's apprenticeship website or directly with employers offering apprenticeship programmes.
Apprenticeships are funded by the government and employers, meaning there are no tuition fees for the apprentice. Additional support may be available for those with disabilities or learning difficulties.
For more details, visit the official UK government apprenticeship website at .
By contrast, some of Rhian’s old school friends who took the traditional university route are “finding it hard” to get a good job.
But this may not come as a surprise, as less than 45 per cent of new graduates find full-time graduate-level employment within 15 months of completing their degree, according to the latest official figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
Why should I pay for something I want if I can be paid for getting it?
Rhian Duncan
Now, employers with an annual payroll bill of more than £3 million a year are required by the government to pay an “apprenticeship levy” of 0.5 per cent.
They can then claim back money from the levy to pay their apprentices’ degree tuition fees at selected universities.
Next year, the levy is expected to raise £4 billion from employers, but only £2.7 billion is due to be spent on apprenticeship training, with the government expected to keep the difference.
Clare Marchant, the former chief executive of Ucas and now vice-chancellor of the University of Gloucestershire, told The Sunday Times last summer she would “like to see another 10 per cent of all UK 18-year-olds getting a degree apprenticeship over the next five years."
She added: "That would take the total to about 100,000 degree apprentices.”
