Where the apprenticeship-versus-degree numbers come from
HEPI’s director takes apart the annual results-day claim that an apprenticeship leaves you £143,000 better off than a degree, showing how the figure depends on comparing the highest-paying apprenticeships with the lowest-paying degrees and ignoring what each group would have earned anyway. Apprenticeships suit plenty of people; the arithmetic in the press releases is not why. Making the most of your degree covers what does move outcomes.
Why nobody gets 100 per cent
Data obtained from the University of York shows how rarely full marks are awarded on assignments marked out of 100, which is less about student ability than about marking convention — the top band is used sparingly and full marks almost never awarded, whatever the paper is marked out of. Useful context before comparing university marks with school grades. Degree classifications explained covers how the bands work.