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According to a poll of 1,774 people who graduated in the last two years, 76 per cent said they were not informed about the alternatives to?university before leaving school. Of these, more than half (54 per cent) said they would have picked an apprenticeship or vocational training route instead of their degree had had they received better information.

The top reasons why the graduates would have opted for vocational training as opposed to university were to avoid debt (77 per cent); to gain a better position at work (61 per cent) and because of a belief that it would be less stressful than university (39 per cent). Around a third (31 per cent) said that they were now in an industry for which their degree was ¡°completely irrelevant¡±.

The survey was conducted by notgoingtouni.co.uk, a website offering students information on the opportunities that exist away from university.

¡°The reason we carried out this research is due to growing concerns that young people aren¡¯t being given the information they need to help them make informed decisions about their future,¡± said Sarah Clover, communications director at the website.

¡°Many are pushed into university and later regret studying for a degree. It¡¯s clearly a huge problem, because the overwhelming majority of recent graduates were not told about apprenticeships or vocational training as an option. This is simply not good enough and the young people of today are being let down.¡±

The survey was released to coincide with National Apprenticeship Week, which runs until 15 March.

chris.parr@tsleducation.com