It is hoped that apprenticeships will play an important role in countering skills shortages but their actual impact is more complex
Growing popularity
The Apprenticeship Levy was introduced in April 2017, and over the last year interesting trends have started to emerge.
Government figures released in June 2018 show that the number of apprenticeship starts between August 2017 and March 2018 is down 28% compared with the previous year.1 However, there's strong evidence indicating that degree apprenticeships are on the increase.
This is reflected in Mandy Crawford Lee's Wonkhe blog from March 2018, which indicated that more than a hundred higher education institutions are engaged in apprenticeships.2
Now, more than ever, universities need to have a robust and transformative curriculum, which demonstrates value-added and learning gains.
Impact on universities
It is not clear how the rise in degree apprenticeships - where apprentices engage in a mixture of work-based and university learning and who will be highly employable at the end of their programme - will impact on employers' talent pipelines and the recruitment of graduates direct from university. This has implications for the higher education sector and puts added pressure on universities to show value for money through sector benchmarking processes such as the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework.
This is why now, more than ever, universities need to have a robust and transformative curriculum, which demonstrates value-added and learning gains. It needs to be designed and delivered in such a way that students and graduates are future-proofed and can compete in the (global) labour market while simultaneously supporting increased growth and productivity in the UK economy.
Skills shortages
Degree apprenticeships were introduced by the Conservative government in 2015, which set a target of creating three million apprenticeships in England by 2020.
They feature prominently in the government's 2017 report Industrial Strategy: building a Britain fit for the future,3 where apprenticeships are viewed as playing a key role in closing the skills gap ensuring the UK remains competitive in global markets.
One of the key features of apprenticeships, including degree apprenticeships, is that they are co-designed by employers and training providers - usually a university in the case of degree apprenticeships - with the needs of employers in mind so that they directly address skills shortages.
Where degree apprenticeships are being used for new recruits they are tending to replace a graduate vacancy directly.
Increased competition
The Institute of Student Employers (ISE) and the National Centre for Universities and Business (NCUB) agree that degree apprenticeships are on the increase. According to the ISE,4 this growth is not likely to be at the expense of traditional graduate recruitment schemes.
However, the March 2018 report by the NCUB, Degree Apprenticeships: Impacts, challenges, and future opportunities takes a different view from the ISE and states 'where degree apprenticeships are being used for new recruits they are tending to replace a graduate vacancy directly'.5
Solutions
The challenge is, how do universities continue to make sure graduates can establish themselves in an increasingly competitive graduate labour market? This is regardless of the rise in degree apprenticeships and their impact on employers' graduate recruitment practices.
Universities need to be able to replicate the work-based element of degree apprenticeships. A number of them have already responded to this challenge and have embedded within degree (and Masters) programmes:
- project based and work-based learning opportunities which reflect the world of work, such as live dissertations with real business problems combined with placements which promote the development of transferable skills
- skills awards and competitions to enhance personal development and promote resilience and a growth mindset.6
Universities are establishing advisory boards and inviting business and industry professionals, who are often alumni, to sit on these boards. The boards act as critical friends and sounding boards for curriculum development and universities are able to draw upon their expertise to support the design, build and delivery of degree programmes, thus allowing students to develop the skills to help support the UK economy.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of HECSU/Prospects
Notes
- Apprenticeships and levy statistics, Department for Education, 2018.
- Mixed fortunes and milestones for universities in apprenticeship delivery, Wonkhe, 2018.
- Industrial Strategy: Building a Britain fit for the future, Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, 2017.
- ISE Insights, Institute of Student Employers, 2018.
- Degree Apprenticeships: impacts, challenges, future opportunities, National Centre for Universities and Business, 2018.
- What having a growth mindset actually means, Harvard Business Review, 2016.
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