UNIVERSITY is not the only option to open to ambitious young people.

Bolton School girl Ellie Addison has secured a civil engineering apprenticeship with Allied Infrastructure in Leigh, where she has been working over the summer.

The 18-year-old is one of many students who are considering alternatives to university to make sure they are ahead of the competition.

She said: "I approached the firm to see if I could do an apprenticeship. I want to do civil engineering because I really interested in physics.

"Through an apprenticeship I am getting the same university qualifications and experience while being paid.

"That experience I wouldn't get at university."