I am a child of the 1980s: the era of three A levels and a presumption that you would go on to university or get a job. Back then, the gap year hadn’t really taken off and the idea of doing an apprenticeship was equally obscure.

Fast-forward to today and many families with teenagers have serious discussions about the financial viability of going to university. There is an increased expectation that young people should remain in education but the courses they can access for further or higher education are more diverse. The apprenticeship model is one route and the government is keen to champion it as a way of securing skilled employment.

The government’s English Apprenticeships: Our 2020 Vision makes for compelling reading. It is seeking to start three million new apprenticeships by 2020, offering substantial training, transferable skills leading to professional qualifications, and employment in areas that will benefit employer, employee and the economy. Apprentices can train to become everything from an accountant to a butcher with some of the qualifications extending to a degree equivalent. To ensure the provision is world class, investment is required and this is where the apprenticeship levy comes in.

Incredibly, only 16 per cent of apprenticeships are currently facilitated within the public sector, so it is understandable that the government is looking to increase participation. However, I am concerned that some schools’ budgets are being hit by the new levy. While it is only the 2 per cent of UK businesses with staffing costs in excess of £3 million that are expected to contribute, local authorities (LAs) are not exempt. Hampshire County Council, which runs our school, is a huge employer and the cost of its contribution of 0.5 per cent of its pay bill will be passed on to each of its “departments”. This means that, from 1 April, my school’s budget will lose approximately £6,000, yet an academy down the road with the same staffing costs will not have to pay.

To add to the frustration, if we were a stand-alone business that qualified to pay the levy, we would be protected by a £15,000 buffer and so our £6,000 contribution would not be collected. And while Hampshire seeks to identify how the buffer it will receive should be utilised across hundreds of schools, my budget is down by two pupils’ funding allocation.

There is also the irony that hardly any of the hundreds of apprenticeships pathways apply to my junior school setting. It therefore seems unlikely that we will get into the next league table of the top 100 apprenticeships employers.

My school already does a huge amount to support further and higher education, hosting teaching practice placements and key stage 4 students as well as offering Schools Direct and School Experience days. In the past four years, we have supported five newly qualified teachers. As a national support school, we constantly work with colleagues in other schools to provide quality training and professional development.

I am not anti-apprenticeships - quite the opposite. But it seems crazy that the part of the public sector that is already doing all it can to support the learning and wider education of our children, under ridiculous financial conditions, is going to be squeezed further still.

Sam Hunter is headteacher of Hiltingbury Junior School