I chose an 18-month apprenticeship over going to college. I'll finish debt-free with a guaranteed job lined up — I have no regrets.

• Lewis Potts, 20, chose to forgo university to start an apprenticeship straight out of high school.
• Attending university would financially cripple Potts and his family. 
• Opting for the 18-month program in project management, Potts is debt-free and already earning.

At 18, I was finishing my level-three media-production qualification — similar to a high-school diploma — at Ashton College in Manchester.

The school had drilled into us that university was the straight-and-narrow path we should plan to take. I was planning to go to university, hoping to get a business-management degree.