With university fees on the increase, young people are weighing up the costs and benefits more than ever and more middle-class teenagers are opting for the apprenticeship route as an equally valid option.

Engineering solutions firm adi Group currently has 14 students enrolled on its post-16 apprenticeship scheme and a dozen 14-16 year olds undertaking an adi pre-apprenticeship in partnership with a local school, which the company says is the first programme of its kind in the UK.

Ceo of adi Group, Alan Lusty, said: 'We are now seeing a generation of young people weighing up their career and training options differently, whether because of university fees, economic forecasts or reduced graduate employment.”

He continued: “As a result, more young people are seriously considering apprenticeships, however, more needs to be done to meet this demand for work-based learning with real value.

“adi Group’s long term aim is to support the engineering and manufacturing industries by providing a constant stream of young talented people who are well prepared for specialist roles. Our pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programmes are clear demonstrations of that intent.”

adi Group’s pre-apprenticeship scheme launched last September and involves 12 secondary school students – male and female – attending its workshop for half a day each week.

The two-year course, with a second group of 12 students joining later this year, runs for 32 weeks for the first year followed by a further 26 weeks the following year. This will occupy 10% of the students’ overall curriculum time as they continue to work on their GCSEs alongside the course. It provides a stepping stone to a full-time apprenticeship.

Alan Lusty said: “More businesses need to be taking on initiatives like ours. As rising numbers of young people from all walks of life are seeking out apprenticeships, the market is becoming more saturated, and this is a demand we must meet. We would very much welcome other businesses using both our pre-apprenticeship materials and experience to launch their own schemes.”

For further information, visit http://adiltd.co.uk/careers/.