Sam Bartlett-Taylor is blessed by a lightness not afforded to many of his contemporaries. Deep into year 12 at Oxley High, the 18-year-old is unbothered by doubts about his future direction, or the need to get into his desired university course.

There was a time when uni was on his mind. But now a plumbing apprenticeship awaits him when he walks from the school's grounds for the final time as a student in a couple of months.

With the gig at Thrift Plumbing locked in, Bartlett-Taylor said "a lot of weight" had been lifted from his chest.

"I wanna start something," he said of his reasoning for opting for an apprenticeship over higher education. "You do uni for four years, and then don't even know if you'll walk out with a job. I just think it's [not going to uni] a lot cheaper too."

The

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