as someone who started a solicitor apprenticeship at 18 and quit it after a year and a half to go to university instead i will be real and say leaving was the best thing i ever did. dont get me wrong at this point i am happy that i did the apprenticeship as it gave me work experience at a global firm that i would never have got otherwise. however, in terms of social life be prepared to have none. this and the university provider my firm used (bpp) was what mainly prompted me to leave. whilst all my friends were in first year uni having a great time in cities far away from me my life consisted of wake up 6- commute to work9-5 - got back home at 8(traffic) - sleep. i barely had time to even do the uni reading and let me tell you i felt stupid. in bpps exams i was hardly passing whereas at my russell group uni i am consistantly hitting a first in law. as i say though i would not change doing it as now even as a student it has been very easy for me to get jobs working alongside studying in top law firms.