How to Get Into Tech for Free: UK & Global Apprenticeships

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This week's Thursday Thinkpiece, we take a look at something which hit the news this week in the UK around the Digital Literacy future of young people getting into technology. However, even though this route may just be for the young I'll give you some some real ways you can get into the tech industry around the world while getting paid and gaining experience along the way at any age.

Let's be real for a minute: if you look at how people try to break into tech over in the US, the entry-level competition numbers from official industry research like the CompTIA State of the Tech Workforce Report are absolute madness, with recruiters receiving over 400 applications per entry-level role and applicant-to-interview rates plummeting to just 2%.

Workforce data for the Class of 2026 shows fresh US computer science grads walking off the stage with average debt load between $37,000 and $55,000 hanging over their heads, part of a staggering $1.75 Trillion national student debt mountain. Over in the UK, official higher education statistics from the UK Parliament House of Commons Library show it's not much different: tuition fees capped at £9,250 a year plus maintenance loans mean a standard 3-year UK computer science degree leaves Class of 2026 graduates facing upwards of £45,000 to £50,000 in debt.

My current favourite example, which is pretty much a meme within the tech community, are listings looking for 10 years of experience in Claude Code when the product was only released in 2024. That's right up there with a recent one I saw looking for 5+ years of experience in ChatGPT. That's more a symptom of the chaotic AI space we're currently in and the proliferation of recruiters using CoPilot to generate job ads, but it's still hilarious.

The sad truth is that most of those recruiters are also using AI to filter candidates out unless they have a certain certification or experience level on their CV before a human even gets a chance to read it, which is funny and scary in equal measure. It's a vicious cycle where AI gatekeeping stops people from getting experience, and then other AI tools filter those same people out for not having experience!

P.S. I do know people who will hire you without a degree or experience, but they're few and far between. They tend to be in smaller organisations or friends of friends, so they're not really a viable option for most people. Also I'm a big proponent of AI usage (and let's face it, it's not going anywhere) but when it starts filtering out potential candidates for jobs before humans even get a chance to see their CV, we need to have a serious conversation about it.

What happens next on both sides of the Atlantic? They hit a brick wall of job posts demanding three years of commercial experience just to get an initial screening call, which is a ridiculous ask for entry-level positions.

To bridge that gap in the US, thousands end up taking unpaid or low-stipend summer internships in places like San Francisco or New York (where rent alone eats you alive). You spend months grinding away, pulling late nights and running coffee runs, praying a real job offer pops up at the end of it. Most of the time? You're just providing free corporate labour without any guarantee of a contract. Also, what if you don't have $10k+ saved up to afford living in SF or NYC? Then you're really stuck unless you're lucky enough to have family who can support you, which, let's face it, isn't an option for most people either.

Over here in the UK though, the conversation around avoiding that debt cycle is taking a very different turn.

Major education policy changes over the last few days have put vocational technical training front and centre. Recent reporting from The Guardian, LinkedIn News coverage on technical training for pupils and latest Department for Education policy directives outline plans to introduce technical pathways directly to pupils starting in Year 10 (aged 14 to 15, equivalent to 9th grade High School Freshmen in the US).

Andy Burnham (Mayor of Greater Manchester) on LinkedIn:

"For too long, our education system has treated technical routes as a secondary choice. The Manchester Baccalaureate (MBacc) and early technical pathways give young people clear choices, employer-backed skills and direct routes into high-skilled careers without crippling debt."

The story prompted some major discussion in the office and fellow tech professionals on LinkedIn in the past week. Though mostly around the surrounding politics of the British Labour Party leadership battle rather than the practical content. Political debates aren't what this blog is about, and I don't really get too involved in all of that anyway. What makes this story genuinely fascinating is where the policy debate itself is unfolding. New UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham is actively using LinkedIn to lay out policy visions,...