University has long been held up as a beacon of civilisation, good for the mind and one of the surest ways of getting ahead in life.

It is remarkable how little these attitudes have changed, despite many successful people never having experienced the academic life.

Successive governments have focused on getting more people into universities while employers increasingly complain of a skills shortage.

This contradiction is now being addressed with more Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVEs) being set up and links being forged between business and schools.

One alternative to university is to take a modern apprenticeship, which allows trainees to learn on the job, gain qualifications and earn money at the same time.

Modern apprenticeships, run by business in tandem with the Learning and Skills Council, are open to anyone aged 16 to 24 and last between one and three years.

They cover a vast range of careers including agriculture, finance and insurance, health and beauty, media and printing, customer services and engineering.

Tom Middlemitch joined Thomas Cook travel agents as a modern apprentice in 1996 after gaining nine GCSEs at Worthing High School.

He spent two years at his local branch in Worthing and was then taken on as a full-time sales consultant.

He quickly moved on to become customer services manager and then branch manager before moving to become key account manager at Thomas Cook TV in London.

Few 23-year-olds will have had this level of experience in the travel industry and he has no regrets about missing out on university.

He said: "I looked at the courses available for me at college and university and couldn't see how any of them would really get me anywhere.

"I decided I needed experience and the idea of getting paid while being trained appealed to me.

"The five-day working week was an eye-opener and the money was not much but if you stay with it you're likely to be in a better position than somebody coming from university."

There are two levels of modern apprenticeship - foundation (FMA) and advanced (AMA).

Both lead to National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs), key skills qualifications and technical certificates.

Wednesday March 17, 2004