OPINION: Why you don’t need a university degree to have a good career
Written by Alli Vass, manager of Inverness and Cromarty Firth Green Freeport’s Powerhouse, which is responsible for connecting business, academia and skills providers to develop a green energy workforce.
A 2024 study showed that a record number of Highland school leavers went on to positive destinations after completing their studies.
The data produced by Highland Council indicated that 95 per cent of young people went on to work, entered higher or further education, took up training opportunities or supported the voluntary sector.
What really struck me about this report wasn’t the number of young people who were pursuing pathways to future careers – it was the number of different destinations they were considering as part of that journey.
I’ve long believed that university is not the only route to career success. And, judging by the results of the study, young people understand this too. So, why are we still fuelling the myth that only a degree can deliver a rewarding, well paid job?
I hear this all the time in my role with The Powerhouse – the skills and innovation arm of the Inverness and Cromarty Firth Green Freeport. In the coming years, the green freeport will deliver more than £3 billion and over 10,000 jobs to create a legacy for current and future generations.
The number of jobs that will be created as the Highlands establishes itself at the forefront of Europe’s offshore wind and renewables sector is vast. That means we need to develop a diverse, dynamic workforce - and not everyone will need a degree to be part of it.
There is a huge swathe of young people in the middle of the academic spectrum who feel pressure to go to university when it might not be right for them. Often, these are the students who then struggle, fail their degree or scrape by and go into a career they are not passionate about.
We need to give these people more support, highlighting the different routes they can take, including a Modern Apprenticeship. According to Skills Development Scotland, there were 2,238 Modern Apprentices in training across the Highlands as of March last year, earning a wage while undertaking vocational training relevant to their future role.
I sometimes think that parents and other influencers undervalue the role of Modern Apprenticeships. This is not like the Youth Training Scheme of the 1980s where it was common for young people to be paid as little as £25 a week in exchange for performing often menial tasks with little or no training. This is no longer the case.
Modern Apprenticeships enable people to study and develop the practical skills at college or university while also working on the job outside of term time. Vocational careers offer significant earning potential. Today, we see some electrician roles being advertised circa £50,000; this salary is far greater than what we saw offered less than a decade ago. This role is now the very definition of a well-paid, highly skilled career.
We are incredibly lucky to have the University of the Highlands and Islands here on our doorstep, as it has developed a successful programme for students at all stages of apprenticeship, from SVQ, on to HNC, HND and degree. It’s already ahead of the game with a dedicated Renewable Energy Training Hub campus, and its offering will be expanded even further in future with the addition of a new Sustainable Construction Centre.
That said, apprenticeships are not a silver bullet. There are not as many apprenticeships available as we need, as more funding is allocated to higher education than further education and the vocational training it provides. And the feedback I hear is that it’s often difficult to learn about vacancies – it takes a real effort on the part of young people to find out where these opportunities are with no central point of information.
Businesses that will be setting up or expanding their presence in the green freeport area will also offer unskilled entry level positions. Many, many people have joined a company on the bottom rung of the ladder and worked their way into senior positions as they have built up their knowledge and abilities.
The other part of the skills equation is existing talent. We have a strong conventional energy heritage here in the Highlands – many of the yards that form our tax sites were built to service that sector – and the green freeport presents significant opportunities for those already in the workplace to transfer or reskill.
While future employment prospects for people in the Highlands will be significant, it’s important to remember the scale of what we are offering. The green freeport will bolster the entire Scottish economy, creating jobs across the supply chain and right across the country. Every corner of Scotland stands to benefit.
Inverness and Cromarty Firth Green Freeport can be a facilitator, bringing people together, but we cannot do this on our own.
We are incredibly fortunate to have a strong partnership ethos in the Highlands, and we need to draw on that further to ensure every young person understands there is an opportunity for them, regardless of academic track record.
Employers are going to need university educated employees. They are going to need young people who are willing to learn trades. They are going to need people prepared to start on the bottom rung. And they are going to need to lean on the experience and knowledge of those who have already established their careers.
It’s going to take a combined effort from everyone to plan for the future pipeline, ensuring we don’t deliver only for the next generation but those still to come.
