Jun 30, 2026 · 32 min · 11 segments
Her headteacher called her into the office and told her she was too smart to do construction. She became a plumber anyway, and went on to win national competitions, volunteer in Nepal, become a brand…
Daisy TurnerGuest
Tulloch PriestHost
I think it's, it always comes down to money, doesn't it? So although there is funding.
for certain courses so I think it's CITB that does like the levies and someone somewhere in their infinite wisdom asked the CITB to not offer levies to plumbing and electrical students so if you're in other trades like carpentry and things like that you can access the levies but actual plumbing apprentices can't so it's struggle that employers struggle to cover the wages and sort of like When you first get an apprentice, they're not that useful because they don't know.
And to have to take your time out to teach that apprentice, and then you still have to pay them their wage.
It's a lot for an employer to take on, which is why there's so little apprenticeships on offer.
So if you look at job applications for argument's sake, there's one plumbing apprenticeship going on.
a big company but they'll probably get I don't know like 20 applicants but there's only one position to fill so there's a lot of people that want to get involved in the trades and want to be in the industry but there's not enough opportunities because the employers struggle because of financial difficulties and then the college struggles because although they get the funding it isn't spent correctly and there's a lot of students drop out and to get the full funding for a student In a college, they have to sit the entirety of the course.
So it's almost once you've finished your course, the government then give the last 20% or 25%, I think it is.
So the college are almost acting on borrowed money while you're sitting your apprenticeship in the hopes that we finish it completely so that they can get the last bit of funding.
Okay, so you've got from the apprentice point of view, is there enough money for you to live on?
So when you speak to other apprentices, you can sort of get by for that period of time while you're an apprentice, while you're learning.
So if you're starting between 16 and 19, you're on apprenticeship wage, which is pretty low, but you take that into account when you take on the apprenticeship.
But equally, being on that lower wage for a few years, weighed up against the option of all of the student debt you could be in, it sort of works itself out.
Because although you're on less money for a couple of years, you're not paying back a student loan for the next 20 years.
So you sort of take the hit when you're younger, when you don't have the responsibilities, you don't have bills, you don't have a mortgage to pay.
I think it's, it always comes down to money, doesn't it? So although there is funding.
for certain courses so I think it's CITB that does like the levies and someone somewhere in their infinite wisdom asked the CITB to not offer levies to plumbing and electrical students so if you're in other trades like carpentry and things like that you can access the levies but actual plumbing apprentices can't so it's struggle that employers struggle to cover the wages and sort of like When you first get an apprentice, they're not that useful because they don't know.
And to have to take your time out to teach that apprentice, and then you still have to pay them their wage.
It's a lot for an employer to take on, which is why there's so little apprenticeships on offer.
So if you look at job applications for argument's sake, there's one plumbing apprenticeship going on.
a big company but they'll probably get I don't know like 20 applicants but there's only one position to fill so there's a lot of people that want to get involved in the trades and want to be in the industry but there's not enough opportunities because the employers struggle because of financial difficulties and then the college struggles because although they get the funding it isn't spent correctly and there's a lot of students drop out and to get the full funding for a student In a college, they have to sit the entirety of the course.
So it's almost once you've finished your course, the government then give the last 20% or 25%, I think it is.
So the college are almost acting on borrowed money while you're sitting your apprenticeship in the hopes that we finish it completely so that they can get the last bit of funding.
Okay, so you've got from the apprentice point of view, is there enough money for you to live on?
So when you speak to other apprentices, you can sort of get by for that period of time while you're an apprentice, while you're learning.
So if you're starting between 16 and 19, you're on apprenticeship wage, which is pretty low, but you take that into account when you take on the apprenticeship.
But equally, being on that lower wage for a few years, weighed up against the option of all of the student debt you could be in, it sort of works itself out.
Because although you're on less money for a couple of years, you're not paying back a student loan for the next 20 years.
So you sort of take the hit when you're younger, when you don't have the responsibilities, you don't have bills, you don't have a mortgage to pay.
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