degree apprenticeship in software engineering

i am in year 13 currently doing a levels in maths, physics, computer science and further maths. I am not planning on going to uni at least not any time soon due to my financial situation. I want to do a degree apprenticeship in the field of engineering or computer science. But i am worried if doing a degree apprenticeship may narrow my chances to progress in my career as the research I've done and what I've heard from talking to careers advisors, the courses are not as in depth as university courses. Will this hinder my ability to do jobs in other companies in roles that may not be very similar in the future or am i just overthinking.

Reply 1

LazyDev

There will be some jobs where not having that piece of paper (CS degree) will be used as an initial screening filter, however it's usually for junior roles, as soon as you have professional experience that usually takes president .
The main thing teams care about is demonstrated practical skills, in which case an apprenticeship can be a better option as (I assume) you'll be working on real projects which is way more relevant in the real world. Just be sure to be also building a strong portfolio of projects (i.e on Github) that is publicly visible so that futur hiring managers can actually see your abilities as often times the work (code) you write for companies is hidden in private repos. The pros of a degree is that it usually gives you a wide set of base skills across domains within computer science (i.e databases, algorithms, web, embedded, AI, robotics), but can lack the practical knowledge of building real applications. An apprenticeship gives you that practical knowledge, but in a specific domain, so make sure you taking opportunities to build out your knowledge through other ways like online courses or side projects. If your doing that then you'll be in a much better position than even those with CS degrees. So it is what you make of it 🖖