The Student Room Group

Degree Apprenticeship or University

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some advice on whether I should choose to go to University or take a degree apprenticeship.

I'm currently studying A-Level Computer Science, Physics and Electronics, and I'm looking to continue on with a Computer Science-related degree, with the hope of becoming a software developer or analyst.

During November, I sent my UCAS application and have received offers from all my choices including my first choice - Computer Science with Business Management at Birmigham. I've attended their applicant day and was very impressed with the university.

During last year, I also applied for a degree apprenticeship programme with Capgemini, which is mainly work-experienced based with a degree in 'Business and Technology Solutions' from Aston, as well as £16K annual salary throughout the programme, which is just over 4 years.

I have not been offered the position at Capgemini yet, but have recently been invited to their assessment centre.

My question is, should I end up being offered the position at Capgemini, will I be better off going to a good uni or taking the job?

The apprenticeship is very attractive because of the work experience, no student debt and the salary. However, I will be giving up my place at a really good university in order to take it, and also this will be the final year I am eligible for an offer from Birmingham since next year's entry requirements will change, and will require A-Level Maths!

Any advice is appreciated, Thanks
Original post by Jones798
Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some advice on whether I should choose to go to University or take a degree apprenticeship.

I'm currently studying A-Level Computer Science, Physics and Electronics, and I'm looking to continue on with a Computer Science-related degree, with the hope of becoming a software developer or analyst.

During November, I sent my UCAS application and have received offers from all my choices including my first choice - Computer Science with Business Management at Birmigham. I've attended their applicant day and was very impressed with the university.

During last year, I also applied for a degree apprenticeship programme with Capgemini, which is mainly work-experienced based with a degree in 'Business and Technology Solutions' from Aston, as well as £16K annual salary throughout the programme, which is just over 4 years.

I have not been offered the position at Capgemini yet, but have recently been invited to their assessment centre.

My question is, should I end up being offered the position at Capgemini, will I be better off going to a good uni or taking the job?

The apprenticeship is very attractive because of the work experience, no student debt and the salary. However, I will be giving up my place at a really good university in order to take it, and also this will be the final year I am eligible for an offer from Birmingham since next year's entry requirements will change, and will require A-Level Maths!

Any advice is appreciated, Thanks


Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii,

Not sure if my opinion will help but I'm currently in my first year of that apprenticeship scheme except with a different employer and a different university.

The things I would suggest you think about before making your decision is whether you are willing to give up the "uni experience" as it were, as all your time will be taken up with long days at the office and assignments for uni. Whether you are a more theoretical learner or you prefer hands on experience. Whether you are willing to commit yourself to the world of work yet - you don't get to have any holiday other than the 21 days pro rata that your company will give you. Whether the position Capgemini will give you is something you'll actually enjoy - trust me, it's very hard to keep yourself motivated doing a job that doesn't give you any satisfaction. The degree is also very new. I don't know if they do it differently at Aston but at my university we do a "work-based module" each semester which has been devised specifically for us degree apprentices. I have found that those modules have been very poorly designed and the delivery is also severely inadequate, although, as I say, this differs between universities. I would also suggest you think about whether you would be able to get a similar level of work experience through doing an industrial placement and summer internships.

For me, I chose the degree apprenticeship because I thought it would make me more employable and to some degree, it does. However, you have to chose the path which is right for you as a learner. If you don't know the answer then pick uni and know that you can always change your mind. But ultimately you need to chose the one which will make you happiest, after all this is the next 3-5 years of your life!

Hope this helps. Feel free to ask any other questions you may have!
Original post by afjwholli
Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii,

Not sure if my opinion will help but I'm currently in my first year of that apprenticeship scheme except with a different employer and a different university.

The things I would suggest you think about before making your decision is whether you are willing to give up the "uni experience" as it were, as all your time will be taken up with long days at the office and assignments for uni. Whether you are a more theoretical learner or you prefer hands on experience. Whether you are willing to commit yourself to the world of work yet - you don't get to have any holiday other than the 21 days pro rata that your company will give you. Whether the position Capgemini will give you is something you'll actually enjoy - trust me, it's very hard to keep yourself motivated doing a job that doesn't give you any satisfaction. The degree is also very new. I don't know if they do it differently at Aston but at my university we do a "work-based module" each semester which has been devised specifically for us degree apprentices. I have found that those modules have been very poorly designed and the delivery is also severely inadequate, although, as I say, this differs between universities. I would also suggest you think about whether you would be able to get a similar level of work experience through doing an industrial placement and summer internships.

For me, I chose the degree apprenticeship because I thought it would make me more employable and to some degree, it does. However, you have to chose the path which is right for you as a learner. If you don't know the answer then pick uni and know that you can always change your mind. But ultimately you need to chose the one which will make you happiest, after all this is the next 3-5 years of your life!

Hope this helps. Feel free to ask any other questions you may have!



Thanks for your reply. Do you mind if I ask what company do you work for, and what sort of work you do there?

The degree course at Birmingham looks really good with some interesting modules and plenty of choice in each year. I have applied for the 'Year in Industry' degree, so I'll get a full year's worth of paid work experience as part of the degree at uni.

And as you said, the thing putting me off taking the apprenticeship is missing out on the 'uni experience'. I went to Birmingham's applicant day in in January and I really liked the place and could see myself being there. And like I said in my question, my offer from Birmingham is a now or never since I won't be eligible next year!
Reply 3
Hi :smile:

( Just a lil bit of background:
I am currently in my second year of the old version of the Degree Apprenticeship with Capgemini. I took the apprenticeship option because I hate feeling like I'm in debt, and wanted to get work experience whilst studying to improve my chances of being hired at other places. )

To be honest, it's not really merged very well; it definitely feels like I'm doing my 9-5 job, completely separate from university, and then have normal uni work to fit in on top. Lectures are recorded and you watch them at home, you do three modules at a time, so three lectures a week and then assignments and tasks every few weeks (not as bad as it sounds) :smile:

It really depends on what you're going to uni for, like you have the accelerated learning part at the start where you have regular lessons for a few months like school, and we stayed on campus for that, so you kind of get a few months of uni atmosphere, but after that it's more like you have a normal job than you're working whilst going to uni if you get what I mean. If you're going into a degree for the more "fun" part, with the drinking and socializing, then I'd go for uni (there's definitely nothing wrong with that, and I do kind of feel like I'm missing out on it sometimes). If you're literally just going to get a first in your degree and then go into work then I'd go for the apprenticeship; I get what you mean about having to decide between going to a "good" uni or the apprenticeship, but to be fair Aston is an okay uni :P

Also you progress in the company like a normal employee, so you're likely to get off of £16k relatively quickly, if money is a big incentive :smile:

Just to make sure you don't think I'm sugar coating it so you'll come work for Cap: to be honest, you alone have to push yourself to do everything, like there aren't people checking up on you, so it's easy to just not bother and get behind, which sucks :frown: Also there isn't really any slack to be cut for apprentices when you're actually working, like I don't get time during the day to do apprenticeship work much, but it really depends on your manager and project. Oh another thing is you don't see the people you're studying with often, so it's kinda hard to collaborate on stuff if you're not working in the same building, which is relatively likely.

Either way, good luck with whatever you do, and remember with the assessment centre, they're more trying to see how you work rather than what you know, so I'd research good qualities to have as part of a team rather than kinda memorizing a load of stuff about object oriented programming :P

~ Zoe

Original post by Jones798
Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some advice on whether I should choose to go to University or take a degree apprenticeship.

I'm currently studying A-Level Computer Science, Physics and Electronics, and I'm looking to continue on with a Computer Science-related degree, with the hope of becoming a software developer or analyst.

During November, I sent my UCAS application and have received offers from all my choices including my first choice - Computer Science with Business Management at Birmigham. I've attended their applicant day and was very impressed with the university.

During last year, I also applied for a degree apprenticeship programme with Capgemini, which is mainly work-experienced based with a degree in 'Business and Technology Solutions' from Aston, as well as £16K annual salary throughout the programme, which is just over 4 years.

I have not been offered the position at Capgemini yet, but have recently been invited to their assessment centre.

My question is, should I end up being offered the position at Capgemini, will I be better off going to a good uni or taking the job?

The apprenticeship is very attractive because of the work experience, no student debt and the salary. However, I will be giving up my place at a really good university in order to take it, and also this will be the final year I am eligible for an offer from Birmingham since next year's entry requirements will change, and will require A-Level Maths!

Any advice is appreciated, Thanks

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