Young people who are thinking about their post-A level options need to realise that there are other opportunities aside from university.

Spencer Mehlman, managing director of notgoingtouni.co.uk, pointed out that individuals are starting to understand that alternatives to higher education exist.

"There's vocational training, typified by apprenticeships where students learn from a partnership of on-the-job and off-the-job training, whilst earning," he noted.

"Then there's distance learning, which can even provide free qualifications and allows you to mix work with more study. There are foundation degrees, sponsored degrees, gap years, getting a job and corporate training schemes."

Mr Mehlman's remarks came ahead of National Apprenticeship Week, which runs from February 6th to 10th in order to raise awareness of apprenticeships.

To mark the week, the National Audit Office (NAO) has published a report that found one in five apprenticeships last for six months or fewer and that most places on apprenticeship programmes have been filled by people aged under 25, suggesting an increasing number of existing workers are being trained under the scheme instead of it creating jobs.

The NAO's analysis revealed that apprenticeships for adults provide a decent return on investment, calculated to stand at an £18 return for every £1 of public money injected into training schemes.

NAO head Amyas Morse commented: "The apprenticeships programme has been providing a good return for public spending. Nevertheless, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills should set its sights higher in order to get better value from the £0.5 billion and rising now spent on adult apprenticeships each year."

Mr Mehlman added that the length of an apprenticeship should not matter as some courses will be more in-depth than others.

"Provided the courses are rigorously assessed and students look closely at what a course entails, then even short courses that mix theoretical and practical learning can be useful in preparing people for work," he said.