I was 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.