I was a young apprentice at one of UK's oldest docks

"I think there's a place for all paths of learning, and this was the one for me," says Jacob Beak, one of the UK's first qualified heritage boat restorers.

He is one of hundreds of thousands of young people who in recent years have chosen to learn on the job through an apprenticeship, rather than going to university.

It was at Tooley's Boatyard, in Banbury, Oxfordshire, where Beak completed his Heritage Engineering Marine Technician course.

Managing director of the historic boatyard, Matthew Armitage, says apprenticeships like Jacob's were a "fantastic" way to pass on knowledge that has been built up over centuries.

Tooley's, on the Oxford Canal, first opened in 1778 and is thought to be the UK canal system's oldest continuously working dry dock.

"One of the issues with the boatyard is that we're one of the last places in the country where traditional skills actually continue on site," Armitage explains.

"It's [a skill that is] now on a red danger list of being lost."

Following five years of training at the boatyard, Beak recently became one of the first people in the UK to complete a Level 3 Heritage Engineering Marine Technician apprenticeship.

"I'm very much more into practical working and practical skills, rather than academic [studies]," he says.

"I've always known that I wanted to do something with my hands and this fits perfectly into what I wanted to be doing and where I could see myself in the future."

He explains that his qualification was "all encompassing", meaning he can now "fully restore a boat - not just structurally, but internally as well".

Quite a few of his friends had gone off to university, adding: "I think it's just different minds and different techniques of learning."

"Choosing the path that I have, I've achieved everything that I want to - I don't feel like I've missed out on anything," he says.

Armitage adds that apprenticeships were "what's needed across the country".

"Everyone's got degrees now - you're going for a job where everyone else has got degrees," he said.

"Things should be trained a lot more in house, because you can not just get someone a qualification, you can get them molded perfectly to your company."

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