Which pathway (Degree, Apprenticeship, NGB Short Course, Vocational Training) do you see giving the best opportunities for career development? Please explain your answer fully.

Experience and NGB's

Degree

Combination

Apprenticeships & Vocational Training

Dependant on Individual & Attitude

Degree & NGB's

Apprenticeship, then Degree & NGB's

Experience and NGB.

NGB short courses for those employed and looking for CPD.

NGB short course

Aspiring to NGB awards - no one should leave an outdoor course expecting to get employed without basic canoe, climbing and leading groups on walks tickets eg BCU 2/3*/FSRT/UKCCL1 and MTUK - CWA LLA/hill skills.

A degree can only be seen as a base level and needs to be supplemented by NGB courses and ongoing CPD.

I think my preferred would be a degree gained after some time doing NGB short course/ gaining experience.

Outdoor Degree and collecting NGB's at same time

In the current climate I am looking for Apprenticeships

However Apprenticeship schemes are relatively short and it's difficult to get the NGB awards up and running in 12 months. So it has its limitations.

The graduate apprenticeship scheme that ran for some years worked well with this - taking grads and giving them a year of work experience with of the job training once a month- and these folks have gone on to do well in the industry. I think apprenticeship schemes such as the ones being organised by IOL and employers are the only effective way forward.

Apprenticeship - demonstrating depth of ability over time and in different environments

Apprenticeship as this has a good mix of everything - soft, hard skills, NGB's etc.

Apprenticeship or NGB short course are the best as the candidate comes out with a lot of relevant experience and knowledge and does not have expectations which are too high

Apprenticeship and vocational training. On the job training and relevant to the organisation that delivers it.

if you mean starting in the outdoors then probably Apprenticeship/NGB/Vocational will get you started sooner even if the pay is low it is still pay

Apprenticeships for those starting out

Apprenticeship followed by degree and then PGCE in outdoor activities

I did a combination of vocational training followed by a NVQ3 / apprenticeship followed by a degree and it's all worked out well for me

  1. Enter industry via apprentice/vocational route2 get range of NGB via any route
  2. after a few years look at mature student/part time teaching/youth work qualification with a view to career development

Depends on the individual and his/her willingness to take charge of his/her own life to make things happen.

Depend of the person and their desires (what career development they want)

If your major ethos or drive is the personal and social development of young people then we must view the 'things' we do as tools to help achieve our purpose.

They can all work. Ultimately it depends on the attitude of the student. Those that find additional learning opportunities, work placements will be the ones with the best career development pathway.

I think they all have a part to play and it depends entirely on the character and drive of the student.

Degree. As outlined above.

Degree - will allow you to access better jobs sooner and easier that the other routes.

I think a degree is useful, but not necessarily an outdoor one - in fact most 'normal' degrees are better.

but a degree is probably the most effective for long term career development.

Combination - employment requires multi skilled people

they all have their merits, the outcome hinges on the level of coaching and mentoring they receive to help personal growth and development