Sorry Sir Michael Wilshaw, but my apprenticeship led to a job and four promotions

But according to the head of Ofsted, someone like me isn't adequately prepared for the workplace

"I used to be a labourer doing odd jobs before I started my apprenticeship with Network Rail. Money was irregular, as were the hours, and I had no real direction in what I wanted to do." Photograph: Sir Michael Wilshaw (Rex)

No political photo-op is complete without a group of smiling young men and women in hard hats and hi-vis jackets surrounding the minister in question. During this year’s election campaign there was almost a competition between the parties to outdo each other in how many apprenticeships they could promise to create – 50,000, 80,000, one million!

Yet today Sir Michael Wilshaw, the chief inspector of schools, claimed most new apprenticeships are of poor quality and don’t adequately prepare young people for the workplace, and for their careers ahead. He called the situation a “disaster”, which explained why just 5 per cent of young people took on apprenticeships at age 16.

Wilshaw believes this is due to the abundance of apprenticeships available; he apparently thinks this is a case of quantity over quality. He’s right that we need more young people to get involved in an apprenticeship, but it’s important that we do not let reports dampen any positivity about them – we already have an uphill battle. I know of many excellent schemes, including the one I did, so while reports such as these must help ensure new schemes deliver a quality education and training for young people, I would be disappointed if they helped to embolden any negative perceptions.

I used to be a labourer doing odd jobs before I started my apprenticeship with Network Rail. Money was irregular, as were the hours, and I had no real direction in what I wanted to do. Fortunately, I saw an ad and my mum encouraged me to go for it. I’ve since been promoted four times in nine years, managed a team of six people (many of whom were older than me, and graduates too) by the age of 25 and have worked on multi-million projects. In my experience, apprentices are not treated as optional extras in the team.

There is no reason apprenticeships should be a “lesser” option for kids considering what to do with themselves. It’s invalid to claim my education was low-quality or a waste of public funds. I’m successful: I’ve been able to move out of my parents’ house, save money for the future, and have no student debt — all things out of reach for many graduates today. This satisfaction doesn’t just come from being less indebted than our peers, but because we actually make the kind of vital contribution — a ground-up, dirt-under-the-fingernails, attention-to-the-basics style of working — that would be lacking without us.

Apprenticeships are one of those rare, fashionable causes that actually live up to their hype. Balancing practical and classroom learning, they produce able employees who have a unique, in-depth understanding of their trade, having worked up from the most basic, practical level. Furthermore, apprentices often work superbly with graduates, complimenting their more academic approach to tasks.

In Britain, we have a strange attitude toward education. We’ve put huge numbers of people on paths that don’t suit them because everyone wants their kids to go to university. To combat this, we need more vocational education.

More apprenticeships don’t necessarily mean the quality of your experience diminishes, just as more universities don't make education less fruitful.