As an apprentice... 

• You can earn a minimum of £5.28 per hour during the first year of your apprenticeship. If you are 19 years plus and have completed your first year, your wage per hour will increase to the national minimum wage for your age group. 
• You can gain real-life experience in the industry you want, developing relevant and practical skills on the job. This can make you more employable at the time you finish your apprenticeship.
• You will receive a mentor to support you throughout your apprenticeship to ensure you are happy with your apprenticeship and have enough time and knowledge to complete your coursework.

Where can I find an apprenticeship?

• BCoT apprenticeship vacancies
• Find an apprenticeship through the Government website

Want to go straight into your industry after college? We can help with that. 

Not sure how to proceed?

We have a designated Careers Adviser, Anna Thorpe, to support your progression into your industry. 

We can support you in our careers drop-in sessions to discuss progression options in the F019,  next to the main reception on the South site on Mondays and Wednesdays 11.30am - 1pm daily.

To arrange another time, email: careers@bcot.ac.uk

• You can ease the transition from study to work by putting yourself directly into your desired industry.
• You can develop relevant skills and knowledge in what you want to do and immediately put your newly learned skills into action.
• Statistics from 2018 show that interns are earning up to £20,000 a year.
• You can explore other roles in your industry that you may not have originally considered.
• You can gain networking opportunities that could lead you to the next step in your career.
• Understand how organisations in the industry operate and problem-solve challenges they face to develop your experience and skills.
• Give real work examples to use in future job interviews.
• You will be invited to in-company training courses that can support your development after the internship.
• You will gain a supervisor who can also be a referee for future job interviews.

Not sure what you want to do next?  See our helpful guide to your next steps here.

Want a break before heading back into education or finding a job? There are different routes you can go if you choose to take a gap year. Take a look at the different websites below to get an idea about what you can do during a gap year.

• Real Gap
• Prospects
• Gap 360
• Not Going To Uni

As a student... 

• You can gain access to specialist jobs with the university's connections.
• You can develop transferable skills that you may not be able to learn through another pathway.
• You become more employable once you graduate as employers are constantly looking for individuals who are skilled to a degree level. 
• You will develop your independence which can benefit you later on in life - e.g. paying bills and managing money!
• There are arguably more cultural and social experiences that you can benefit from as you will meet like-minded people and experience a different culture in a new place.
• You can take advantage of the university's connections, landing you placements, work experience and opens you up to the opportunity of freelancing and creating your own company. 
• You will gain a qualification at the end of your degree which will support you in becoming an expert in your field.

Here are some helpful links for applying for university:

• Thinking about university
• Applying through UCAS
• Apply through UCAS Extra

Interested in finding out more about university?