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Should I study at a good uni or do a degree apprenticeship at a "bad" uni?

I am looking to study electrical and electronic engineering and I have applied to 5 solid universities (Bath, Bristol, Southampton, Cardiff, Nottingham) and I'm confident that I will receive offers from most of them, however I'm also looking into doing a degree apprenticeship instead.

My concern is that all of the degree apprenticeships seem to send you to a lot worse, lower ranked uni's like Hertfordshire (ranked 56th for EEE.) Would I have greater career opportunities if I went to one of the better universities that I listed rather than doing a degree apprenticeship at a "bad" uni?

I also saw someone say on reddit that degree apprenticeships for engineering will set you up to go into more boring and basic roles, whilst if you go to university you will have a greater choice of career paths, can anybody comment on the validity of this?
Original post by Dhshsnsksnskxn
I am looking to study electrical and electronic engineering and I have applied to 5 solid universities (Bath, Bristol, Southampton, Cardiff, Nottingham) and I'm confident that I will receive offers from most of them, however I'm also looking into doing a degree apprenticeship instead.

My concern is that all of the degree apprenticeships seem to send you to a lot worse, lower ranked uni's like Hertfordshire (ranked 56th for EEE.) Would I have greater career opportunities if I went to one of the better universities that I listed rather than doing a degree apprenticeship at a "bad" uni?

I also saw someone say on reddit that degree apprenticeships for engineering will set you up to go into more boring and basic roles, whilst if you go to university you will have a greater choice of career paths, can anybody comment on the validity of this?


With a degree apprenticeship they typically tee you up to go into a specific set of roles and they are fantastic at this, but they don’t provide you the same freedom post degree to do an extremely broad array of engineering graduate jobs.
If the degree apprenticeship leads to the type of role you want then it is probably the better option from getting you into a “good” organisation and excellent training in what they value. However if what you are interested lies outside the apprenticeship it will be much tougher to carve a route back out of your apprenticeship area.
I wouldn’t worry about the ranking of the university you do a degree apprenticeship with, and instead focus on the role and organisation its with.
In my experience engineering degree apprentices typically have stronger skills then graduates but weaker on theory. This makes apprenticeships great for people who want to go into manufacturing, quality, design, test engineering type roles but lacking the theoretical depth means in analytical analysis, computational modelling, working from first principles r&d then conventional degree's are more suitable, it’s worth noting even if you wanted a role in a more theoretical role there is no guarantee you would land a grad scheme on this anyway.
But don't apprentices and standard university students both get the same degree? So wouldn't it be the same difficulty (or even easier) for an apprentice to go into any career path that they want rather than sticking in the field that they did their apprenticeship in?

A degree apprenticeship I'm looking at is for Rolls Royce, but I don't know what sort of field I want to pursue in electrical engineering after my degree.
Original post by Dhshsnsksnskxn
I am looking to study electrical and electronic engineering and I have applied to 5 solid universities (Bath, Bristol, Southampton, Cardiff, Nottingham) and I'm confident that I will receive offers from most of them, however I'm also looking into doing a degree apprenticeship instead.
My concern is that all of the degree apprenticeships seem to send you to a lot worse, lower ranked uni's like Hertfordshire (ranked 56th for EEE.) Would I have greater career opportunities if I went to one of the better universities that I listed rather than doing a degree apprenticeship at a "bad" uni?
I also saw someone say on reddit that degree apprenticeships for engineering will set you up to go into more boring and basic roles, whilst if you go to university you will have a greater choice of career paths, can anybody comment on the validity of this?

This was my exact thinking as well except computer science

I dislike apprenticeships specifically because of how little control you have over them and the fact you have to apply to so many different ones just for a slim chance of getting an offer.

Personally I have decided to go the uni route but idk about EEE + it’s your decision, which one are you most comfortable with?

(Take my opinion with a pinch of salt ofc)
Original post by DRGN3455
This was my exact thinking as well except computer science
I dislike apprenticeships specifically because of how little control you have over them and the fact you have to apply to so many different ones just for a slim chance of getting an offer.
Personally I have decided to go the uni route but idk about EEE + it’s your decision, which one are you most comfortable with?
(Take my opinion with a pinch of salt ofc)

Well since I don't know much about the different areas in EEE, I'm leaning towards going to university so that I can make the decision of what career I want to pursue once I get a feel of what topics I like and dislike.

Also I actually really enjoy learning about maths and physics, it's almost become a hobby at this point so university would be better for that.

For now I will apply to a few degree apprenticeships that interest me to see if I can get into any, and then I will worry more about making the decision between the two.
Original post by DRGN3455
This was my exact thinking as well except computer science
I dislike apprenticeships specifically because of how little control you have over them and the fact you have to apply to so many different ones just for a slim chance of getting an offer.
Personally I have decided to go the uni route but idk about EEE + it’s your decision, which one are you most comfortable with?
(Take my opinion with a pinch of salt ofc)

Which universities have you applied to?
Original post by Dhshsnsksnskxn
Well since I don't know much about the different areas in EEE, I'm leaning towards going to university so that I can make the decision of what career I want to pursue once I get a feel of what topics I like and dislike.
Also I actually really enjoy learning about maths and physics, it's almost become a hobby at this point so university would be better for that.
For now I will apply to a few degree apprenticeships that interest me to see if I can get into any, and then I will worry more about making the decision between the two.

That sounds like a good idea tbh
Original post by Dhshsnsksnskxn
But don't apprentices and standard university students both get the same degree? So wouldn't it be the same difficulty (or even easier) for an apprentice to go into any career path that they want rather than sticking in the field that they did their apprenticeship in?
A degree apprenticeship I'm looking at is for Rolls Royce, but I don't know what sort of field I want to pursue in electrical engineering after my degree.

In my experience the learning objectives might be on paper the same but the educational experience is totally different and the attributes & capabilities students from each route can be quite different.

You mention RR, it’s very obvious looking at Rolls with the apprentices there are far more represented in certain engineering roles than others. and in some areas at Rolls there is far more of an academic culture with lots of conventional degree graduates & PhDs, in other areas it’s much more practical and pragmatic and the apprentices are a significantly larger proportion.
(edited 1 month ago)

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