SWINDON College says students need to remember the skills they are learning as apprentices, despite having to contend with low wages.

It comes in response to a report from the National Union of Students which suggested that apprentices are often being exploited, with some around the country not being able to afford to travel to their place of work or study, or take time off sick.

At the moment, apprentices in England are entitled to £2.73 an hour, equivalent to £95 per week for a 35-hour week, but the government is considering raising apprentices’ pay by £1 an hour.

But the NUS says the minimum wage is exploitative, and many teens are opting to take on other jobs in their spare time to cover their living expenses.

Andrew Miller, principal and chief executive of Swindon College, which offers a range of different programmes for youngsters, said that students had to weigh up the prospect of a low wage against the opportunities for their futures they were being offered.

He said: “The college has over 1,000 apprentices working with a whole range of employers, and whilst the pay is low, the apprentices understand they are being trained and given a great opportunity to develop their skills and achieve the highly valued apprenticeship qualification.

“This often leads to far greater opportunity and rewards than those without the comparative experience.

“The college success rates for apprenticeships are some of the best in the country, and the apprenticeship provision continues to grow every year with many employers paying considerably more than the minimum apprenticeship wage.”

The NUS report highlights that government figures show how 42 per cent of hairdressing apprentices are being paid under the legal minimum, and how family budgets are affected by youngsters training on apprenticeships because they do not count among the approved education or training required to claim child benefit, post-16.

The NUS also calls for the bursaries and interest-free bank accounts available for students to be made available to those on apprenticeships.

Joe Vinson, NUS vice president for further education, said: “This report shows that we could have a whole generation being shut out of vocational education because of financial constraints.

“I hope that our report will trigger a serious investigation into the financial well-being of apprentices and lead all political parties to commit to making apprenticeships more accessible for all.

“Nobody is talking about the everyday reality for individual apprentices.’’