The Degree Apprentice Hunt: A Parent's Perspective on a Brutal 9-Month Application Marathon

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Dec

December 3, 2025

We recently wrapped up nine months of what felt less like an application process and more like an endurance sport!

My 18-year-old son, Jack, received two Degree Apprenticeship offers in the end – a huge relief, but the journey to get there was eye-opening, exhausting, and frankly, a bit soul-destroying.

For anyone who thinks applying for a job straight out of school is easy, here’s a reality check on the numbers…

Jack submitted 27 applications and endured a process that ranged from online forms, CV submissions, psychometric tests, SJT’s, personality profiles, telephone screens, video interviews, and multiple in-person assessment centres and/or final stage interviews.

The Relentless Grind: The Numbers That Tell the Story

Jack was applying for roles designed for, and aimed at, school leavers, all while juggling A-Levels, learning to drive, and working a part-time job. The time investment to personalise those applications was astronomical:

Stage of Application	Number of Regrets
No response at all	6
Regret after initial application	8
Regret after testing/interviews	5
Regret at final stage (Assessment Centres/Final Interview)	6
Total Regrets	25
Offers	2

More than half of those applications were dismissed at the first hurdle with either ‘no response’ or a regret at application stage.

Six more rejections came at the final stage, often after Jack had already invested hours of research, preparation, travel time, creating pre-prepared presentations and meeting various stakeholders on company sites.

One organisation even put him through a punishing 9-stage process just for him to be told no.

The Hidden Hurdles: Where the System Fails School Leavers

The worst part of this experience was not the rejections themselves, but the reality that makes these “school leaver” opportunities inaccessible to many school leavers.

1. The Experience Paradox

The most frustrating feedback was hearing “you did well for your age but you just don’t have the experience of other candidates” or “we went with someone older and more experienced.”

He was frequently the youngest person in attendance at final stage assessment, contradicting the very nature of a Degree Apprenticeship aimed at school leavers. Rather than assessing Jack’s potential and skills the reality was that he had to compete directly against candidates with many years of work experience, along with many holding a degree already but now trying to pivot with a second qualification as they are finding the graduate job market tough.

This makes the playing field impossible for a true school leaver. “You’ve done well for your age” is a condescending phrase that just confirms the roles are not really for them, but can we really blame hiring managers for being wowed by more experienced candidates?

2. The Lack of Support and Communication

Ghosting: Many of the 27 companies applied to lacked clear communication. Jack was frequently told “you’ll hear back in a few days” only to receive no proactive communication for weeks. The chasing for updates was a daily task requiring some pretty good organisational skills!

The Travel Tax: Jack had to travel up to 1.5 hours away for final stages. Only three out of 27 companies offered or even encouraged the take-up of travel expenses. For a candidate from a lower socio-economic background, this cost alone would be a huge barrier.

Zero Prep: Only one company offered any form of preparation session ahead of their Assessment Centre / final stage interview. The rest just assumed Jack would know how to navigate their specific tasks and understand their process.

3. The Onboarding Barrier

The process post-offer was also quite daunting. The onboarding process involves a huge amount of complicated paperwork and contract information. For an 18-year-old who may not have parental support (or an understanding of complex legal language), this is another potential cliff edge. It really made me think about how companies can / should adapt their onboarding language and support their new employers to understand the documents they are required to read and sign. Companies need to look at their onboarding processes and ask: Are we truly supporting the young people we are hiring?

The Final Takeaway

To all organisations recruiting Degree Apprentices:

Communication is key – from attraction to onboarding be clear with your candidates and offer support so that they know what’s expected of them at each stage and can be fully prepared (as well as explain the paperwork!)
Get back to candidates when you say you will – young people are juggling a lot alongside applying for your role so keep them updated
Feedback is key – offer feedback proactively rather than wait to be asked for it – young people want to know how they can do better and will learn and improve because of quality feedback (and will be left with a great impression of your business)
Stages – do you need so many stages? What are you hoping to find out from that 3^rd interview that you didn’t find out in the first two?
Cover costs – many young people of 17-18 are also trying to pay for driving lessons and car insurance as well as the costs associated with attending your assessment processes. Proactive reimbursement (without mountains of complicated paperwork) is a Godsend.

Of course Apprenticeship roles should be accessible to all, but it has certainly been eye-opening to see that many recruitment processes adversely impact younger applicants straight out of school / sixth form.

Thankfully, Jack has now made it onto a fantastic scheme and is thriving in a supportive environment, but only through a fierce mix of grit, resilience, and a solid support system at home.