Hi everyone,

Just wanted to make a quick post about why I decided to leave my HLA with only a few months left until graduation. (4 years in total!)

For context, I’m studying a Level 5 undergraduate degree in Economics while working as an analyst.

First of all, I still genuinely think HLAs are a brilliant alternative to the traditional uni route. Getting professional work experience while studying, earning money, and moving to a new city was a massive opportunity for me. Coming from a retail background, having a proper office job and a bit more money in my bank account felt amazing at the time.

I learned a lot, both professionally and personally, and I do think apprenticeships can be great for young people.

So why did I leave?

Pay

The pay was honestly very poor for the amount of work I was doing. I understood I wouldn’t be earning graduate salaries because I didn’t have a degree yet, but being on the EXACT same wage for nearly four years while grads and other full-time staff got annual pay rises was frustrating.

I was promised pay rises multiple times, but they never happened. Increasing my salary because minimum wage went up is not really a pay rise, even if it was presented that way.

Responsibilities

I actually enjoy responsibility. I’ve balanced work, studying, volunteering, and caring responsibilities before, so hard work itself wasn’t the issue.

The problem was doing full-time analyst-level work on poor pay without much recognition. Eventually it just started to feel unfair and demotivating.

Balancing work and uni

This was probably one of the biggest issues for me. From my experience, firms talk a lot about supporting apprentices, but when deadlines, exams, or coursework came around, work always came first.

There wasn’t much understanding around uni workload, and getting time off approved for study or exams felt harder than climbing a mountain sometimes.

What’s next?

The only reason I felt comfortable leaving was because I already had another analyst role lined up where I’m treated as a proper full-time employee rather than “just the apprentice”.

I’m now focusing on finishing my degree, not long left now, and honestly I feel much happier with the direction things are going.

I still think apprenticeships can be amazing opportunities, but I also think people should know the reality of them too! Any questions ask away!