“Teenagers who have just received their GCSE results are being encouraged to qualify as plumbing apprentices rather than go on to study for A-Levels.

Celebrity plumber and former apprentice Charlie Mullins (pictured), who is the founder of Pimlico Plumbers, one of the largest plumbing firms in the UK, says youngsters need to see apprenticeships as a valid alternative to university especially considering the current shortage of places.

According to Mullins, who started his plumbing apprenticeship when he was 15, teenagers who qualify as apprentices are more likely to have job and financial security in the future.

“An apprenticeship puts you on a real career path and in three to four years when you are trained and earning money, your friends will only just be finishing university and in the job market for the first time,” he said.

“Good university degrees are fine, but it’s going to be increasingly difficult for many youngsters to get on good courses. We should be promoting apprenticeships, and encouraging kids to understand that they offer a real alternative.”

This year there are almost 40,000 more students confirmed for university entry compared to the same time last year.

Currently more than half of university places on offer through the university clearing system, which allocates left over places to students, have been taken.

It is estimated that there are now 14 students for every available degree place.

Earlier this month Mullins branded the £2.5m Sir Alan Sugar backed government apprenticeship website a “joke” for filling only 1,185 vacancies out of the 18,000 advertised.

He says the government should pay employers the equivalent of Job Seeker’s Allowance, which is around £50 a week for under 25 year olds, to take on apprentices. In his proposals he also suggests the government should pick up 100 per cent of an apprentices wage bill for the first year and 50 per cent in the second, leaving employers on their own only in the third year.

“We must encourage youngsters to aim for a real trade, not stand by whilst many end up wasting time on pointless degrees from poor universities, when the country is crying out for properly trained tradesmen,” he said.

“You can always do the academic stuff later. Often it’s easier when you have a bit of real life experience under you belt.”

Source: Training Journal, August 2009

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