How to help teens find the right career path

The Apprentice's Tim Campbell tells LISA SALMON about the new T-levels and how they are a great option for young people wanting more vocational qualifications

- LISA SALMON

AS LORD Alan Sugar's right-hand man in The Apprentice boardroom, Tim Campbell dishes out advice that can help make or break contestants' careers.

And now the businessman, who won the first series of The Apprentice 20 years ago, is widening his advisory role off-screen by helping the nation's teenagers - and their parents - understand the new vocational and technical qualifications on offer that could shape their future careers.

Father-of-two Tim, who worked for Lord Sugar for two years after winning The Apprentice, was now on the board of several enterprises and is involved with NHS tech and leisure industry investments.

He is also a founding member of the T-team - a group of technical education champions set up to help parents understand more about T-levels, the technical qualifications combining classroom learning with a 45-day industry placement.

New research by Talking Futures, a Gatsby Charitable Foundation campaign to help parents get information on education and career paths, found 41% of parents of teenagers fear their children will struggle in their career because they're not prepared for the workplace.

And more than half of the teenagers questioned felt nervous about starting work - although 78% thought a qualification including workplace experience would make them feel more confident.

"We found more than 40% of parents had no clue about what they're going to advise their children to do, and they're not prepared for what's going to come around tomorrow," says Tim, who is judging candidates in the new series of The Apprentice on BBC1.