Apprenticeships can be as challenging as multiple A-levels, the assistant chief executive of Belfast Metropolitcan College has said.
Justin Edwards, also director of curriculum at BMC, spoke after it emerged that Northern Ireland’s youth unemployment climbed to 22.3% during April to June this year.
Mr Edwards said apprenticeship qualifications were “robust and challenging, often equating to multiple A-Level subjects and that they are taught by professional and technically competent tutors”.
Mr Edwards added: “Training for an apprenticeship is as rigorous as academic learning and once young people understand this it will help them to appreciate the real value of taking the apprenticeship route.”