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| All You Need To Know About Apprenticeships In The South East Of England |
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| Written by Craig Abrahart |
| Tuesday, 22 November 2011 09:23 |
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Next time you watch the national weather on TV, pay attention to the temperatures in the South East: on those rare occasions the UK gets good weather, you'll usually find the best of it in the South East. Why that is, who's to say? It may be because the region is one of the most prosperous places in the UK... or vice versa! Made up of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex, the South East is the region with the second largest economy in the UK, after London. So if you're looking for an apprenticeship in the South East - or even just thinking about it - the good news is that unemployment rates there are among the lowest in the whole of the United Kingdom. During the final quarter of 2010, the national average when it came to unemployment was 7.9% - as opposed to 6.1% in the South East of England. This is encouraging news if you're weighing up your chances of landing an apprenticeship in the South East, and perhaps even better news when it comes to what happens after you've finished your apprenticeship and you're looking for work. Even better news concerns the pay rates in the South East: they're significantly higher than the national average. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the median gross weekly earnings for full-time adult employees in the South East was 548 - 49 higher than the UK median. With a diverse and thriving labour market, the South East is home to big brands like Microsoft, Sun Microsystems and Amazon, as well as Kaspersky, BAE Systems and Toshiba... so if you're looking for an apprenticeship in the technology sector, then this could be the place for you. People in the South East enjoy a longer lifespan than many other UK nationals, says the ONS. It may have something to do with the good weather, the low rate of unemployment or perhaps even the excellent salaries on offer but life expectancy for men is well over 83.5 years, and for women it's 86.3 years - both outperforming the national average for men and women. You've obviously heard of the North/South divide, which shows a clear difference between the two halves of the United Kingdom, especially when it comes to the economies in the North and South. In general, the quality of life in the South is worse than that of the North, while living expenses are significantly higher in the South. Everywhere has its pluses and minuses, and the South East of England is no exception. One such negative is the average house prices in the region. Getting on the property ladder has become more and more difficult in recent years, and first time buyers might find house prices in the South East prohibitive. According to BBC figures, the average house price in the region is 268,878. The average house price even goes as high as 383,186 in Surrey. Compare that to the national average of 228,095 and you can see that property in the region is significantly more expensive. The costs of living are also higher in the South East of England, so even if you're not buying property you can expect those higher costs to be reflected in higher renting costs and higher council tax costs, as properties tend to be in more expensive council tax bands. Remember, you'll have to live on an apprentice's salary, which varies depending on the sector you are in, what your employer does and what they decide to pay you, but you'll have to be paid at least the national minimum wage for apprentices which is 2.50 per hour. It all balances out in the end though: higher than average salaries make a higher cost of living easier to deal with, so it's all relative. As a potential apprentice, since the employment figures are so good for the South East of England, you stand a good chance of finding an apprenticeship - especially one that's technology-related - and an equally good chance of finding a suitable job for your skills afterwards. About the Author: If you're considering trying an apprenticeship in the South East of England you can get info about them and the other apprenticeships available at Notgoingtouni.co.uk. You'll also find more info and advice about foundation degrees, gap years,voluntary work and sponsored degrees, along with more than 300 distance learning videos. Kindly provided by MoneyHunter.org You are welcome to use this article on your own website, if you include the link just before this text. |
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