Contents

Higher and degree apprenticeships ................................................................................................... 2

Prepare ......................................................................................................................................... 4

Data and information................................................................................................................. 6

Infrastructure ............................................................................................................................ 9

Working with employers .......................................................................................................... 12

Staff readiness ......................................................................................................................... 15

Glossary ................................................................................................................................... 17

Plan ............................................................................................................................................. 18

Apprenticeship validation and approval ................................................................................... 19

Approaches to apprenticeship design ...................................................................................... 22

Synergy between on and off the job learning ........................................................................... 26

Blended learning for apprenticeships ....................................................................................... 29

Online learning for apprenticeships ......................................................................................... 33

Deliver ......................................................................................................................................... 36

Initial assessment and induction .............................................................................................. 37

Individual learning plan and objective setting .......................................................................... 39

Supporting apprentices ............................................................................................................ 40

Evidencing learning .................................................................................................................. 45

Assess .......................................................................................................................................... 48

Feedback, monitoring and review ............................................................................................ 49

Gateway to end-point assessment (EPA) .................................................................................. 51

End-point assessment (EPA) ..................................................................................................... 52

Higher and degree apprenticeships What you need to know

Apprenticeships is a growth area undergoing massive reform, with a government target of three million starts by 2020. The employer levy funding, which began in April 2017, is estimated at £2.5 bn in England, and we are already seeing signs that employers are choosing to spend the funds available to them at the higher levels.

• Higher apprenticeships at levels 4 and 5 are equivalent to a higher education certificate, higher education diploma or a foundation degree.

• Degree Apprenticeships at level 6 are generally equivalent to a bachelor's degree. • Degree Apprenticeships at level 7 are equivalent to postgraduate level study eg a

postgraduate diploma or a master's degree.

This guide is aimed at helping higher education providers make effective use of technology in delivering the new apprenticeship standards whether you have little previous experience or are changing from delivering frameworks. It is aimed at senior managers, staff designing and supporting learning and IT support services.

Although the apprenticeship levy applies to employers UK wide, arrangements for funding apprenticeships differ across the devolved administrations. This guide has a particular focus on helping manage the changes taking place in England in relation to the data and information side but the good practice in enhancing apprentice learning through technology is universally applicable.

We cannot emphasise enough the importance of being fully conversant with the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) funding rules and the details of the precise standard and assessment plan to which you are delivering. This guide is not a replacement for more general information on apprenticeships.

Why it matters

Increasing and more effective use of technology will be crucial to meeting the needs of this new employer led approach whilst maintaining high quality.

Employers want to see efficient and flexible delivery models, developing the required skills whilst minimising impact to their business. Student apprentices are used to accessing information when and where they want it and they too want flexible access to learning.

Despite increasing awareness of the potential of technology to support apprenticeship delivery, there are many practical obstacles.

Find out more about the outcomes of our 2018 survey on higher and degree apprenticeships here.

Voices of experience

'The workplace experiences drive the academic side and the academic side drives back into improved workplace performance. It is harder work for the student apprentice but at the end of it they come out as the full polished product. They have evidenced that they can walk the walk and talk the talk rather than being somebody with a degree certificate who is just starting.' Patrick Viney, Northumbria University.

Be inspired/examples of practice

'I wanted to increase my skill set in a way that would allow me to learn while working and earning a full-time wage. The degree apprenticeship with Manchester Met allows me to understand the context of what I'm learning and gives me the chance to apply it. And I won't have any debt.' Ellie Warburton, Digital & Technology Solutions degree apprenticeship, AstraZeneca, Manchester Metropolitan University

Read Ellie's case study.

'Doing different placements lets you learn from colleagues who are experts in the field, and gain insights you can only get from real-world experience. ... The most challenging aspect is time management. I'm currently studying for a degree, a Level 4 NVQ qualification and completing work placement tasks. I soon figured out a way of managing my time well and quickly enjoyed the rewards.' Robert MacFadden, Aerospace Software Development Engineering apprenticeship, BAE Systems, University of Central Lancashire (UCLan)

Read Robert's case study.

'The most enjoyable part of the apprenticeship is learning skills you can take back and practise in the workplace.' Tom Colbeck, degree apprenticeship in Business Leadership and Management, University of Portsmouth.

Read Tom's case study.

Prepare What you need to know

Making the most of the opportunities afforded by the new apprenticeship standards requires a strategic approach in all areas including:

• labour market assessment; • course design • marketing; • day-to-day learning and teaching practice; • managing and sharing information; • supporting students • ongoing customer relationship management

For each of these aspects the approach is different to typical undergraduate and postgraduate study and needs to be coordinated to deliver an effective service to employers.

You will find we refer to you as an apprenticeship 'provider' in this guide. This, and much of the other terminology, may be unfamiliar but should help to get you in the mindset of a different type of provision.

Why it matters

Universities and colleges are telling us that adjusting existing offerings is insufficient to meet these changing requirements. You will have to rethink how to design and deliver a very different type of learning experience and engage with a very different set of customers and regulatory stakeholders.

Voices of experience

'We are trying to make apprenticeships literally just a different mode of studying. In the same way you have online, undergraduate, postgraduate, part-time and full-time; it is just another mode of delivery. We are trying to take all of the pain that is perceived around apprenticeships out.' Kirsty Tallis, University of Derby.

What are the issues?

This diagram gives a high level overview of the student journey of an apprentice highlighting where it differs from a typical undergraduate life cycle.

Be inspired/examples of practice

This video showing City and Guilds’ vision of work based learning in 2020 uses a persona technique. The use of personas is well established in service design and journey mapping and can help you see things from a particular stakeholder perspective.

Resources to help

The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) ran a survey to gauge the state of readiness of apprenticeship providers a few months prior to the move to the new standards. This PDF copy will allow you to view the questions and gauge how many of them you can answer. ESFA Apprenticeship readiness survey [link]

The University Vocational Awards Council (UVAC) is a not-for-profit organisation with a mission to champion higher-level vocational learning. Their website has a section on higher and degree apprenticeships. They are active in policy discussions and also provide training and guidance.

Our Apprenticeship journey in a digital age: provider toolkit is aimed mainly at colleges and independent providers delivering apprenticeships at levels 2 and 3 but offers many examples of the effective use of technology in the management, delivery and assessment of apprenticeships.

Data and information

What you need to know

The regulatory context in which apprenticeships are delivered is very different to that of other higher education provision. In delivering apprenticeships you will be subject to all of the demands of your usual funding and regulatory bodies and will encounter a host of new ones.

You will also be working with a different set of external stakeholders - most notably employers and professional bodies but possibly also external training providers and end-point assessment organisations. See our glossary and section on endpoint assessment for more on these topics.

Why it matters

The data and information requirements have much in common with those already in place in further education (FE). Those of you in the FE and skills sector are likely to find your core administrative systems are already geared up to meeting the requirements. Higher education providers may however find that your core records systems need considerable bespoke work simply to meet regulatory demands.

Many universities have been managing the data and information associated with apprenticeships in a relatively ad hoc way whilst student numbers were small but such manual workarounds and 'feral' systems managed within departments are unlikely to scale up to meet the needs and audit requirements of larger scale delivery.

What are the issues?

For each apprenticeship delivered you will need to:

• maintain an extensive Evidence Pack that will be audited by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA)

• complete the monthly individualised learner record (ILR) that will be cross referenced against information provided by the employer

• maintain records of financial transactions between yourselves and the employer

This diagram gives an indication of some of the systems complexity associated with apprenticeship delivery. It illustrates where higher education providers may encounter systems and data flows outside of those relating to your usual operations without purporting to be a comprehensive view of data and information flows.

There is no single sign-on for this mass of systems. Apprenticeship providers will need a separate log on for many of the government systems including:

• Learning Aim Reference Service (LARS) • Learning Records Service (LRS) • Apprenticeship service • Employer Reference Number (ERN)

See our glossary for the meaning of each of these.

The actual picture may indeed be considerably more complex where a University is working in partnership with other providers to deliver apprenticeships and/or where the University is working with multiple large employers using a range of different systems.

This diagram has been adapted, with permission, from one produced for internal use at the University of Derby.

Voices of experience

'We are very good at teaching and learning but the ESFA stuff is harder.' Resham Gill, Birmingham city University

'The ILR is our Achilles heel at the moment. We had to ask a local college for help to understand the error reports.' Anonymous, Post 92 University

'The biggest problems are the core administrative systems and getting to grips with the ESFA requirements for quality and finance. For apprenticeships the financing is dependent on proper reporting and that has thrown it up into very sharp relief.' Anonymous, Post 92 University

Be inspired/examples of practice

A question of familiarity:

Universities are finding it difficult to get to grips with the monthly individualised learner record (ILR) return to the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA). There are 84 data fields to populate and the terminology has been described as a 'foreign language' to staff in higher education.

Part of the issue is chasing data that is difficult to obtain. However talking to further education partners who are more familiar with the returns has been reassuring in some cases. For example the fact that the cost of end-point assessment (EPA) may not be known at the start of an apprenticeship has caused problems for universities who have been trying to estimate figures when they could have left the field blank.

A similar issue arises with trying to obtain the actual start date of the apprentice's employment. Many experienced providers simply enter the date of the day before training begins.

Resources to help

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) has produced information on the data requirements for apprenticeships in higher education and the options for creating an ILR return. Find out more here.

Administrative processes in higher education are already complex (often for very genuine reasons) and delivering apprenticeships will add a new layer of requirements and involve engaging with a new set of stakeholders. Institutions that muddled through with ad hoc solutions when they had a small number of apprentices will find that they need to rethink business processes. You can find help on how to approach this in our guide on process improvement.

Read our guidance on digital signatures in apprenticeships [link to toolkit].

The Student Records Officers Conference (SROC) is the professional association for people working in the field of student records in higher education and a forum for discussion about the issues and the sharing of practice.

Infrastructure

What you need to know

In our section on data and information we show how the regulatory framework differs from that for the rest of higher education and highlight the fact that you will be working closely with a different range of external stakeholders, most notably employers.

This can have considerable implications in terms of the infrastructure needed to support the delivery of apprenticeships.

Why it matters

Most universities already have a complex set of systems supporting teaching, learning and administration. There is no single 'one-stop' solution you can plug in to this to meet apprenticeship requirements. You will need to understand those requirements thoroughly and find the solutions that best fit with your existing infrastructure.

Some of the issues are not new. Universities have long struggled to cope with 'non-standard' or more flexible types of learning. The workarounds devised to deal with the issues may have been manageable when numbers were small and the issues internal. However, with increasing numbers and a direct link to funding, they have the potential to become mission-critical.

Senior management teams considering delivering the new higher and degree apprenticeships will need to consider:

• How to keep the administrative records needed for compliance and funding bearing in mind the demands on your student record system and finance system may be quite different to those for other types of higher education.

• How to deliver effective learning and teaching bearing in mind that up to 80% of learning will happen in the workplace and that feedback and assessment and progress tracking and monitoring requires effective information sharing between tutors on campus and managers and mentors in the workplace as well as with the apprentice.

• How to keep all the records of what learning has taken place that are needed for audit purposes.

• How to ensure a seamless and user-friendly experience across the different systems in use for apprentices and those supporting them.

What are the issues?

Student administration - student record systems designed for higher education have not generally been designed to hold the information that is required for the individualised learner record (ILR) or any of the other employment information required for Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) audit purposes. You will need to look at what is available in terms of user defined fields that can store the required information. You will also need to think about how and when you capture the information.

Student processes - your systems will be set up to optimise workflows according to your standard business processes. This means much of the data required for apprenticeships is not a standard part of data capture in processes such as application and enrolment. Conversely it also means that some of your 'optimisation' will result in apprentices being asked for/presented with information that is not relevant to their circumstances.

Course and module management - many universities will have their VLE (and any associated course information databases) set up according to the structure of regular undergraduate degrees. This can impose rigidity in areas such as start and end dates of elements of the course; credit structures; learning outcomes and associated learning resources.

Student tracking - although student engagement with activities and learning materials features increasingly as an application of learning analytics, most universities do not routinely track the hours students spend on their learning. The systems used to collect and reflect on evidence of learning, such as e-portfolios, may support reflective practice very well but be less geared up to detailed tracking.

Access - a combination of university regulations and employer firewalls can make for difficulties in creating a virtual environment where apprentices have 24x7 access to all of the learning materials they need and employers and workplace mentors can share information seamlessly with university tutors. Both academic supervisors and workplace mentors need to be able to provide feedback & sign off work as being original and up to standard to evidence the full range of skills, knowledge and behaviours needed to meet the apprenticeship standard. Given the potential for apprentices to work with commercially sensitive workplace data, there must also be a high degree of security.

Voices of experience

'Scalability is key - once you get beyond one or two programmes you really need efficient management right across the University.' Kirsty Tallis, University of Derby.

'Some [apprentices] work on secure sites and have difficulty accessing materials or contacting the University during their working day due to security issues. It takes a lot of time talking to employers to resolve such issues, and the students get frustrated.' Survey response

Be inspired/examples of practice

Only collect what you need

One university told us that their standardised enrolment process caused issues for apprentices. The enrolment screens are set up with a box that students must tick to say they will be liable for their fees. Apprentices are not liable to pay fees but they can't get past this screen without ticking the box. This has led to numerous enquiries and concern amongst apprentices. Currently the workaround is to send an email acknowledging that the apprentice will not be charged a fee. This creates work and results in a sub optimal experience for the apprentice.

Packaged learning

A number of universities told us that their existing VLEs are not sufficiently flexible for use in apprenticeships because they are intrinsically linked to the undergraduate curriculum model. One system is built on an assumption that every piece of learning amounts to 30 credits, and every calendar year learning goes up a level, whereas many degree apprenticeships run over five or six years rather than three. Another said the issue is that all learning is packaged in modules so there is an issue around how apprentices get access to resources that relate to the knowledge, skills and behaviours of the apprenticeship standard rather than a specific module of the degree.

Resources to help

Ultimately you need core administrative systems that recognise an apprenticeship for what it is, collecting the right information at the right point and not confusing apprentices with information that does not concern them.

Achieving this is likely to happen over a period of time. Here is our suggestion for how to go about planning your roadmap.

Plan your infrastructure roadmap

1. Create a view of your IT Architecture showing systems used, interfaces and data transferred at key stages in the apprenticeship journey.

2. Identify any systems that consume resource in excess of their value to the organisation and plan to phase them out.

3. Look at your business processes the interactions between them and the ‘pain points’. Use this to build a ‘to be’ vision of how integrated processes and systems could ease effort.

4. Consider points where you do (or should) link to systems used by subcontractors, awarding organisations etc.

5. Identify the likely lifespan and replacement cycle for existing systems. 6. Consider how a service-oriented approach (SOA) to your data layer could streamline the

architecture and reduce the need for interfaces/data retyping. 7. Consider where approaches such as cloud applications, software as a service (SaaS) or open

source products, could fill gaps, add value or reduce costs. 8. Produce a ‘roadmap’ of how you hope to develop the IT architecture related to your key

business goals: timing each change may depend on system/infrastructure lifespan, license renewals, process change, staff change, moving premises etc but customer expectations are paramount.

Adapted from Ferrell and Bellis 2010: Does the cloud have a silver lining?: the future of flexible IT service delivery.

Working with employers

What you need to know

The whole ethos of apprenticeships, and the rationale behind the changes to the system, is that they are employer led. An apprenticeship is a job with a protected educational component and the main customer is the employer rather than the individual apprentice.

That notwithstanding, because the apprenticeship also involves a higher education qualification, you will also have a contractual relationship with the student. The three-way commitment statement between yourselves, the employer and the apprentice is vital in ensuring these relationships work well.

Why it matters

This is a very different situation to the usual relationship between a university and its students. The employer has a vital role to play in ensuring student success and good employers will want to be fully involved throughout the apprenticeship.

Some of the things employers would like to stay informed about include:

• Achievement data, results, coursework/exams • Attendance • Engagement • Other niche elements specific to that programme

Some of the things employers would like to feed in, based on what managers note on a day-to-day basis in the workplace, include:

• Behavioural aspects • Pastoral aspects

Employers will want apprenticeships closely tailored to their particular needs eg an apprenticeship that has run successfully using a day release model for a local employer may not suit another who has geographically dispersed staff.

What are the issues?

From the outset the process and the stakeholder relationships are different to other higher education provision.

• You will be marketing to employers not individual apprentices. You may have several meetings with an employer who later decides that apprenticeships aren't for them. This is very different to the competitive selection for undergraduate places.

• You will need a watertight contract with the employer and this may have to be bespoke.

• You will need to clarify roles and responsibilities between tutors and support staff in your institution and managers and mentors in the workplace.

• The employer will have a view (and make the ultimate decision) on any subcontracted delivery, eg with a local college or independent provider, as well as potentially on the digital tools you use for delivery.

• The employer will have a view (and make the ultimate decision) on which organisation undertakes the end-point assessment (EPA) for the apprenticeship.

• The employer may be working with multiple apprenticeship providers and may expect you to conform to what they find to be good practice elsewhere.

• The employer may have multiple apprentices in different parts of the same university and expect standardisation of approach even in different discipline areas.

• You need to be aware of commercial sensitivities when designing learning activities, particularly where peer review and group work are involved. You may have apprentices in the same cohort whose employers are in direct competition with one another.

Voices of experience

'You need to make sure that you understand the local market , the local labour force, you need to understand your employers and what their skill shortages are and you need also to understand that they may not hundred percent understand themselves what they want and the key is to unpick that.' Lee Bird, head of engineering faculty, PROCAT

'It's really important to have a process of continuous improvement so I'd encourage all parties involved to have regular communication lines open and to provide real, honest feedback about what's really working well and what's not working so they can always adjust.' Kini Pathmanathan, VP, Human Resources, Thales, UK

'We tend to find universities very academically focused and it takes them a while to understand our business. There is a need to change the University mindset right from the kick-off meetings and make sure they see the employer as their customer.' Large employer with many higher-level apprentices.

Be inspired/examples of practice

Data protection need not be a barrier

Universities used to a one-to-one relationship with their students are often concerned about the ethical and legal issues surrounding the sharing of data with employers. Employers however need good and timely access to data in order to fulfil their role. One large employer told us they would ideally like to see all results and marks before they are released to the apprentices. The reason for this is so they can be ready to support any apprentices who are not achieving as expected.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) need not be a barrier to effective information exchange. The justification for data processing in this instance is the apprenticeship contract. The rules for data processing you are obliged to carry out in order to fulfil your contractual obligations are less restrictive than those for which you specifically require the individual's consent. You can keep up with the latest news on GDPR and its implementation by following the Jisc regulatory developments blog.

Focused dialogue

PROCAT (Prospects College of Advanced Technology) realised that many of its conversations with employers were quite narrowly focused and employers often came back later to ask more about costs so PROCAT developed a web shop to provide greater clarity about the training on offer and the associated costs and funding options. This also allows a much broader conversation about continuous professional development and progression routes. Read the case study from PROCAT on Creating a web shop to facilitate focused dialogue with employers.

Mentor training

A number of universities offer training for those undertaking the role of workplace mentor for an apprentice. Mentors have a vital role to play as up to 80% of learning may take place in the workplace but most people in these roles will not be trained educators.

University of Derby

The University of Derby gives a lot of support to workplace mentors. Mentors have a compulsory university induction (currently this is face-to-face but there will shortly be an online option). There is

a Mentors' Handbook that covers programme information and hints and tips on mentoring and promoting independent learning. The university is developing an online resource for mentors that covers the pedagogy of work-based learning, how people learn, coaching and mentoring and assessment processes. They also offer a 40 credit module at level 6 which is HEA accredited and gives associate fellowship of the HEA.

In addition to this mentors are invited a further 3 to 4 times per year to participate in workshops at the university. Derby is also developing a MOOC for employers and has a range of employer drop-in sessions both invitation only and informal.

Northumbria University

Northumbria University provides a joint induction day for apprentices and their workplace mentors. During the induction day mentors are provided with clarity in relation to the requirements of their role and introduced to the approach to learning that underpins the apprenticeship. In addition to a mentor handbook they are supported by development workshops and on-line resources. Mentors can choose to gain academic credits for their workplace practice, which can contribute towards a post-graduate qualification in coaching at the University.

The University has also appointed a number of professional development coaches (PDCs) as extended members of the programme team, with each apprentice having an individually appointed PDC. The role of the PDC extends to supporting the workplace mentor in addition to the apprentice. Action learning sets meet weekly with the PDC and help the apprentices understand the nature and depth required to meet the standards.

'The programme team has found this link into the workplace setting invaluable in supporting the apprentices in the application of their academic learning through action learning sets.' Brenda Stalker, Northumbria University

Strengthening the line of sight to work

This short video strengthening the line of sight to work illustrates PROCAT's approach to working with employers including how employers are involved in curriculum development and decisions about investment in equipment.

Resources to help

The academic professional apprenticeship is one that many lecturers in higher education may undertake. It could give rise to a situation where a university is both the employer and the training provider. This will provide a very useful context in which to understand the requirements and the issues from both sides.

Employers and providers have a role to play in keeping the apprentice on track and this guide by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) covers both aspects: The role of mentoring in supporting apprenticeships.

Staff readiness

What you need to know

For many colleges and universities work-based learning has long been an important part of their provision especially in subjects such as health and engineering. For other institutions and disciplines the move to delivering apprenticeships can represent a significant cultural shift on top of getting to grips with the technicalities of the requirements.

The University of Derby is an example of a higher education provider that views apprenticeships as very much a mainstream part of provision. 'This university promotes a mindset of inclusivity in terms of apprenticeships.' Ann Minton, University of Derby.

Why it matters

Successful apprenticeship delivery requires many parts of the organisation to work together in a coordinated manner. Even if you are planning to start small and pilot a single apprenticeship, all staff involved will need to understand the overall aims and their particular role.

For some people this will be a tiny part of a very busy job so they need to understand the benefits and to be supported in their role.

In the Prepare section of this guide we look in more detail at how apprenticeships differ from the majority of academic provision in higher education. This is just a summary of some of the staff roles that will face new challenges in delivering apprenticeships.

Administrative roles

From market research looking at the labour market, course approval and marketing and communications with employers, admitting and enrolling apprentices, through to managing the financial transactions and statutory reporting about these learners - the processes are different. Good communications between all stakeholders are needed to ensure the experience for employers and apprentices is a professional one. There is more on this topic in the section on data and information.

Learning and teaching roles

Academics will be designing a different type of learning that has all the rigour of a standard degree with additional elements as well. They will be engaging in a different set of stakeholder relationships where employers are partners in ensuring student success. There is more on this topic in the sections on synergy between on and off the job learning.

Support roles

Apprentices will spend most of their time off campus and may do a lot of work outside typical hours. They will not have the same level of familiarity with your environment and/or peer support as the bulk of your undergraduates. There is more on this topic in the section on supporting apprentices.

What are the issues?

Change management

You cannot expect staff to take on changed roles and, potentially, additional workload without ensuring they understand why you are doing this and have access to the support they need.

Digital capability

Effective use of digital technologies is key to successful apprenticeship delivery. Many universities are now adopting blended approaches to learning and teaching and it is rare to find academic programmes that are delivered without any use of technology. Apprenticeships pose particular

challenges however and may require a higher degree of virtual engagement than many other courses. We offer resources to help conversations about what digital capabilities mean to you, support staff reflect on and develop their digital capabilities, and help you identify and address any gaps.

Voices of experience

'We need to be asking questions such as 'What does it mean to be a nurse?' Being a healthcare professional will mean something completely different in five years’ time. Increasingly nurses are becoming educators and showing people how to monitor their own health and respond to it.' Helen Beetham, educational consultant

'We are just starting some new 2 year degree apprenticeships and are looking to adapt the existing curriculum. We know we will need more diagnostics, more online learning & more summary and catch up activities. We don't really need to persuade anyone to change as the need for change is obvious.' Jasper Shotts, University of Lincoln

Be inspired/examples of practice

University of Derby Apprenticeship Hub

The University of Derby takes a strategic approach to effective management of apprenticeships across the university and has created an Apprenticeship Hub - currently consisting of four staff on secondment from their normal roles:

• Head of apprenticeships • Operations and compliance manager • Academic lead • Business engagement manager

This team has put considerable effort into getting the message out across the University about how apprenticeships are different to other programmes and this work has underpinned getting people on board and changing the culture.

They began with generic workshops for people in any role interested in the topic and have gone on to do more targeted sessions eg for admissions staff. They also have a focus on helping senior academic managers understand the workload implications of developing this type of course and build this into their workload model.

There is also a programme leaders forum that acts as a self-help group. Staff from the Apprenticeship Hub attend the meetings and pull out learning that needs to be shared across the institution.

The Hub team feels it is very lucky in the excellent support it gets from other departments across the university particularly IT services and the quality team. IT services has been fully on-board with getting systems and processes to work for apprenticeships and in supporting training and staff development. The quality team has been very proactive at looking at where regulations may need to be changed or amended eg changing the external examiners report pro forma to work for apprenticeships as well.

Resources to help

Read our resources on building digital capability.

Read our guide on digital capability and employability.

Read our guide to developing your students employability skills through technology.

Read our guide on change management.

Glossary

ACE Apprenticeship Certificates England. This is the body that provides certificates for apprenticeships delivered under the old frameworks. Certificates for apprenticeships under the new standards will be delivered direct by the ESFA.

AS Apprenticeship Service -

DAS Digital Apprenticeships Service - this was the proposed name for the service that is now known simply as the Apprenticeships Service.

EDS Employer Data Service - a web service where apprenticeship providers can find information about employers including their ERN (the acronym EDRS is also used interchangeably).

EPA End-point Assessment - an independent, synoptic assessment of the knowledge, skills and behaviours necessary to meet the apprenticeship standard. In the case of degree apprenticeships the standard and assessment plan will specify whether the EPA is integrated into the degree or carried out separately by an external body. EPA can only be carried out by organisations that are on the register of endpoint assessment organisations in relation to each particular standard.

ERN Employer Reference Number - needed for audit purposes and statutory returns.

ESFA Education and Skills Funding Agency - the body that funds apprenticeships.

The Hub A set of online services for use by organisations working with the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA)

IdAMS Identity and Access Management System - the name of the government information management service system - training providers will need to be registered with this system to use some of the services mentioned in this glossary.

IFA Institute for Apprenticeships - a crown, non-departmental public body responsible for the development and quality of apprenticeships.

ILR Individualised Learner Record - statutory data return to be completed for all apprentices.

LARS Learning Aim Reference Service - an open dataset of learning aims and other information frequently used in apprenticeships. Can be used to populate statutory returns although more useful for apprenticeships still running under the old frameworks rather than the new standards.

LRS Learning Records Service - manages the ULN and the PLR.

PLR The personal learning record is an online compilation of a person's learning and achievement records collected by UK education bodies.

ROATP Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers

ULN Unique Learner Number - widely used in schools and FE and increasingly used in higher education.

UVAC University Vocational Awards Council - a membership organisation providing help and guidance to the higher education sector.

Plan What you need to know

If you have worked through the topics in the Prepare section of this guide you will have an idea of the scale of the organisational and cultural change necessary to make delivering apprenticeships and integral part of your higher education provision.

You should have an understanding of where you can meet labour market needs, an idea of the kinds of employer you will be serving and a plan for how the organisation will develop its infrastructure and staff over time to excel at a different type of provision.

You now need to get down to what you do best and design the apprenticeship learning experience.

Why it matters

We cannot stress often enough that an apprenticeship is a job not a qualification and requires a different mindset when designing.

We help you consider this from a range of aspects starting with your formal approval and validation processes, through learning design to thinking about how you will support the apprentices on programme.

What are the issues?

The topics we cover in this section are:

• apprenticeship validation and approval • approaches to designing apprenticeships • synergy between on and off the job learning • blended learning for apprenticeships • online learning for apprenticeships

Apprenticeship validation and approval

What you need to know

Our research shows that, for the most part, the degree level apprenticeships offered by universities are adaptations of existing degree courses rather than programmes that have been designed and approved afresh.

We discuss the academic aspects of this topic further in our section on approaches to apprenticeship design. Those that have started with a 'blank sheet of paper' have found the process easier but there are many practical reasons why adaptation is the preferred route in most cases.

Why it matters

Your course validation and approval processes will need to take account of the fact that apprenticeships are different to typical degree courses.

You will be used to quality assuring learning outcomes for courses and modules but you will also need to be clear how the knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSBs) needed to meet the apprenticeship standard will be delivered.

Apprenticeships in England also require an independently assessed, synoptic end-point assessment (EPA). Some standards allow for degree apprenticeships to include an 'integrated EPA' conducted by the higher education validating body/provider. Other standards specify that the EPA is conducted externally, often by a professional body.

Your quality assurance processes will need to ensure apprenticeship students can meet all the requirements of the standard (even where some of this is met by workplace learning or subcontracted provision).

The Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) stresses the position of employers as the main driver in the development process and states 'The traditional approach, where a higher education provider would invite an employer to endorse a programme after it has been designed, will not suffice.'

From a purely pragmatic point of view, many higher-level apprenticeships will be designed without knowing exactly which employers will take up the offer. You will need a sound framework curriculum with learning activities that lend themselves to workplace contextualisation.

What are the issues?

Processes - You will need to ensure that your validation and review processes can fit the particular circumstances of apprenticeships. This includes consideration of issues such as:

• employer involvement in the design process • skills and experience of the programme development team • capturing all of the necessary information • how major and minor change processes apply when contextualising for different

employers • the appropriate cycle and approach for review (and what data you might have to

inform this) • how related quality processes fit with apprenticeships eg do extenuating

circumstances adequately cover workplace pressures?

Language - Each group of stakeholders tends to use its own vocabulary. Not only are there differences between academia and the workplace - different business units within universities have a particular perspective reflected in their language. Programme and module descriptions prepared for academic quality approval processes often contain a relatively ‘technical’ vocabulary that does not readily lend itself to use in customer facing processes. This results in a situation where the same basic information is redrafted multiple times for different purposes/audiences.

Accurate descriptions - Education provision is now regulated by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The premise of this is that purchasing a course of study is no different to purchasing any other consumer item. The learning experience must be delivered exactly as described in the pre-purchase information or the customer has a right to a refund of fees and other compensation. Institutions need to be aware of this when providing course information and considering the terms of their contracts with employers.

Voices of experience

'The clarity of the relationship between KSBs and programme and module learning outcomes is a key consideration for higher education providers of higher and degree apprenticeships.' Quality Assurance Agency (QAA)

'On the design side it needs a different approach. You are likely to need 'shell modules' and a different approach to writing learning outcomes with a different language, less specificity and more flexibility to adapt to professional needs. You will need a much quicker response time for employers looking to send people on courses and this will be impossible to achieve with the traditional approach. You need re-purposable modules that can be changed very quickly.' Paul Bartholomew, University of Ulster

'Not all of the modules in the programme meet the needs of the apprenticeship and there are gaps between what the apprenticeship requires and what the degree can deliver.' Anonymous, Post-92 university.

Be inspired/examples of practice

Tips for apprenticeship friendly language

Our guide on Managing Course Information has a section on language that contains useful guidance on writing learning outcomes and writing other student facing documentation.

• Say 'you' or 'as an apprentice you will ...' not 'the student ...' • Use active not passive verb forms • Use verbs rather than abstract nouns • Spell out acronyms • Use technical words with care

Reusable information

The University of Sunderland believed strongly that it was possible to capture course information at the approval stage in such a way as to assist its repurposing for other uses and that preparing programme specifications in plain English need not amount to ‘dumbing down’. The academic experience committee agreed a revised programme specification template which was successfully piloted and experience to date suggests that the university is successfully maintaining an appropriate balance accessibility and academic integrity. 'More is not necessarily better and plain English need not be a barrier to academic precision.' University of Sunderland

Staffordshire University has also been providing guidance to staff to enable content to be written in such a way that it can be written once and used again for multiple purposes. As well as language and

terminology this also includes consideration of formatting (eg capitalisation which is rarely used in published marketing literature) and Disability Discrimination Act requirements.

Resources to help

Managing information about the curriculum, keeping it up-to-date and storing the information in ways that enable it to be reused for a range of different audiences and purposes has long been a thorny problem. Our guide on Managing Course Information looks at this topic in detail.

The Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) has a guide on Quality assuring higher education in apprenticeships.

Describability is a vocabulary tool designed to support academic/employer conversations.

Approaches to apprenticeship design

What you need to know

An apprenticeship is a job with a requirement for 20% off the job training. Employees can be apprentices if they are working towards the achievement of an approved apprenticeship standard which defines the knowledge, skills and behaviours required to perform their job role. Apprenticeships are designed specifically to meet the needs of employers.

This makes apprenticeships a unique type of learning quite distinct from sandwich courses, placements and any other type of work-based learning.

Why it matters

Apprenticeship standards have been designed by employer-led consortia known as 'Trailblazers'. The standards contain assessment plans, in varying degrees of detail, and specify arrangements for a holistic end-point assessment (EPA).

The higher education level qualification is thus only one component of the learning experience. Meeting the requirements for the degree (or other qualification) allows the apprentice to pass through the gateway process to establish whether or not they are ready for EPA.

The apprenticeship standard will specify whether the EPA is integrated into the degree or must be conducted by a separate assessment organisation. This means that universities may be training apprentices for a final assessment that will be carried out by a third party.

What are the issues?

If that all sounds very different to typical higher education courses, that's because it is.

Universities and colleges offering degree level apprenticeships can either design them from scratch or adapt an existing course.

Our research shows that those who start with a 'clean sheet of paper' and design an apprenticeship for what it is generally find this an easier process than those who try to adapt an existing offer.

The fact remains however that most degree apprenticeships have been adapted from existing programmes. In some cases this is because of the timing of the Trailblazer process for creating the apprenticeship standards. In some cases this is due to the timescales for university internal validation and approval processes. In many cases it is simply because the University believes that this will be the easiest option.

Jamie Harle, University of Greenwich stresses the need to think about the impact a change in delivery mode might have if adapting an existing course eg if your students generally have a few lectures spread over a week with a 'spacing effect' inbuilt for reflection on that learning, what is the impact of changing to block delivery?

However you approach the design you will need to ensure that apprentices will gain the knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSB) needed to meet the apprenticeship standard. Some of this will be delivered in the workplace so you need to have a holistic picture of the apprenticeship as a whole. There is more on this topic in the section on synergy between on and off the job learning.

Voices of experience

'We shouldn't try and knock the corners off an existing programme and squeeze it into a round hole and call it an apprenticeship. We should start with the apprenticeship standard and what the employers need and develop a programme around that instead of saying 'This is what we've got so we'll see how we can make it fit.' Ann Minton

'Degree apprenticeships challenge the established norms of UK university education in a termly or semester model.' Jamie Harle, University of Greenwich

'The definition of ABL [active blended learning ] is deliberately as loose as it can be in order to encourage staff to apply it in their own area in the way that suits their subject best. For example, active learning for future nurses may be very different to active learning for accountants so there is a need to personalise the experience'. Rob Howe, University of Northampton

Be inspired/examples of practice

Adapting learning design tools

In designing apprenticeships there are many, tried and tested tools that you can use to support the design process.

Our research shows that the most successful approaches use simple pen and paper techniques in a face-to-face setting. The course is viewed on a storyboard and a series of cards covering aspects of the design can be moved around and swapped to model the learning process.

Julie Usher from the University of Northampton told us she feels this is key because the core part is planning the journey from a learner perspective in terms of what they are learning and what activities they are doing. This differs from a traditional teaching plan perspective eg "This week I am going to deliver a lecture on ...".

"What is common about all of these approaches is that they are supporting a shift from a teacher centred to a more learner centred approach." Julie Usher, University of Northampton

ABC learning design developed at University College London, is a simple technique that can be readily applied to apprenticeships. Find out more about ABC learning design.

University of Greenwich outline design

Here is an idealised template for a module within a degree apprenticeship. Over the course of the module the pattern of learning shifts from knowledge attainment, to the analysis and discussion of that knowledge, to the application of that knowledge in the student workplace.

University of Northampton employability framework

The University of Northampton has created a framework that describes what a Northampton graduate should look like. The model is ideally suited to designing learning outcomes that focus on employability skills and behaviours and could easily be adapted for apprenticeships.

It is based on the idea of doing the right things, in the right way, with the right people, for the right reasons.

These principles are described as four attributes:

change - do the right things self-direction - in the right way collaboration - with the right people positive work ethic, integrity and values - for the right reasons

Each of the attributes is further broken down into specific skills and behaviours. The model is supported by a toolkit with practical guidance on applying the framework at different levels of learning.

Find the toolkit here.

Sheffield Hallam University design lenses

Sheffield Hallam University has developed a number of ‘design lenses’ for topics to consider when designing good learning and teaching practice. The lenses have been captured on a series of cards for use in learning design activities.

View the resources below:

• Authentic Learning Lens – Authentic Learning Lens • Creativity and Critical Thinking Lens – Creativity Critical Thinking Lens • Inclusive Practice Lens – Inclusive Curriculum Lens • Learner Engagement Lens – Learner Engagement Lens • Active Lectures Lens – Active-Lectures-Lens • Embedding Employability Lens – Embedding Employability Lens • Assessment and Feedback Lens – Assessment and Feedback Lens

Resources to help

See our guide on designing learning and assessment in a digital age.

See our guide on transforming assessment and feedback with technology.

Synergy between on and off the job learning

What you need to know

An apprenticeship is a job with a 20% protected educational component - this is a mantra that we repeat throughout this guide. Apprentices are doing a full-time job and a degree at the same time and up to 80% of their learning takes place in the workplace. Your learning design needs to recognise this and, equally importantly, so does your auditable record of activity.

Why it matters

Higher education sector is showing a lot of interest in active learning techniques at the moment and apprenticeships provide a real opportunity to demonstrate what we mean by this.

Apprentices do not have a lot of time to undertake desk research so we need to facilitate them learning by doing. Moreover, apprentices bring a wide variety of workplace experience that can enhance teaching sessions.

Frequently you will validate courses to meet particular higher and degree apprenticeship standards without knowing which employers will take up the offer. When it comes to running the apprenticeship, you will then have to flesh out your framework learning design with a set of learning activities and assessed assignments to meet the needs of a particular cohort.

In one sense this is no different to any other kind of degree level learning design where the macro level curriculum is brought to life in smaller chunks of learning that may involve different activities and outcomes for different groups. There are however likely to be additional complications in the case of apprenticeships.

There may be issues of fit both between:

• the degree and the apprenticeship standard and • the apprenticeship standard and the job role

What are the issues?

You should not underestimate the logistics involved in knowing what all of your apprentices are doing in the workplace and scheduling learning activities to correlate with this.

Managing study time

You will need to find a mode of delivery that works for you as a provider and works for the employer and the apprentice. You will have a view as to what kind of blocks of study/time on task works well in your discipline and you may need to negotiate this with the employer. For example, an hour or so a day every day may be insufficient time for the apprentice to engage fully with a task even though it amounts to 20% of working time overall.

You will need to be clear that 20% off the job is actually being delivered as you will be audited on this. It matters to you whether the apprentice is contracted to work 37 hours a week or 40. Weekend and evening study can only count towards the off the job element if this is part of the apprentice's normal working hours. It may be possible to accommodate this if the employer is willing to give time off in lieu during the working week.

Many employers will require flexibility as workplace emergencies do occur. You must not forget though that it is your responsibility to ensure that the apprentices for which you are claiming funding are actually undertaking the planned study.

Nature of cohort

Closed cohorts for a single employers are likely to be easier to design for than mixed groups from diverse employers. However, closed cohorts for large employers, are often every bit as geographically diverse as mixed groups.

Professional confidentiality

Whether you are dealing with healthcare professionals working with patients or scientists in industry dealing with patents, there are likely to be sensitivities around the sharing and discussion of workplace experience. Employers, in particular, may need to be convinced of the benefits of activities such as peer review and group work.

Equal opportunities

Further and higher education institutions have a strong focus on equal opportunities. In the context of apprenticeships, providers will have to ensure that access to learning opportunities takes account of the diversity of employment settings. This means structuring scheduled learning and assessment to take account of working patterns.

Voices of experience

'Apprentices need to be able to relate their workplace experiences, which are 80% of their time, to the core underlying themes and principles taught within the course. They are all working with different techniques and have different in-job experiences that relate to this core material.' Jamie Harle, University of Greenwich

'We are doing a lot more skills-based activities and we have to be able to prove that they not only have the knowledge but that they know how to use it, and in what circumstances, it adds a bit of pressure onto the purely academic side of the programme.' Mark Price, University of Wolverhampton

'It is a big ask to work out what every individual apprentice is doing in their workplace to ensure synergy between on and off the job elements.' Anonymous

Be inspired/examples of practice

A rounded education

Where a pre-existing degree has been adapted for an apprenticeship there may be elements, felt to be important from an academic perspective, that are not part of the standard. We talked to a university that has maintained a module with an international focus that contributes to the uniqueness of its management degree even though the topic is not required for the apprenticeship standard it is delivering. This is additional work for the provider and the apprentices but the university has feedback that both feel it is worthwhile.

Generic versus specific

Some employers prefer to send their apprentices on general management apprenticeships that do not dovetail exactly with their job role. A common issue is that the standard requires some knowledge of finance but many managers do not deal with finance in their day job. A more particular issue concerns a group of prison officers on the general management apprenticeship which includes marketing. In terms of authentic workplace scenarios there are not many prison marketing plans!

Integrated or glued?

Jamie Harle at the University of Greenwich has researched current practice and believes that in the 2017/18 academic year, the vast majority of programme offerings involve a distinct split between the workplace activities of the student and their study at the academic provider.

He says, 'In time, as arrangements for degree apprenticeship delivery matures and the status of the qualification rises to become a key priority for universities and employers, a more intertwined delivery model may develop where bespoke infrastructure such as HEI-hosted industrial skills labs or in-workplace teaching suites are developed to further foster co-operation between employers and academics.'

Resources to help

See our Work-based learning maturity toolkit.

Boud and Solomon's (2001) approach to negotiated work-based learning is still influential in many universities - Work-based learning: a new higher education? SRHE 2001

There is general advice and guidance in this European Union funded Work-based learning toolkit.

Blended learning for apprenticeships

What you need to know

The majority of learning in higher education nowadays is 'blended learning' using some combination of face-to-face activities and digital tools and resources to deliver the best possible learning experience. The term suggests careful and deliberate integration of online and face-to-face activities and effective blended learning design is particularly important for apprenticeships.

The use of digital tools can occur before, during or after a face-to-face session and support a variety of pedagogic purposes. The blended component, for example, might aim to extend the time spent on task, develop information literacy skills, stimulate interest before a class, or enable apprentices to work at their own pace afterwards.

Why it matters

'In learning that is truly digital by design, students have an enhanced set of learning experiences moving seamlessly between physical and virtual environments that are supportive, stimulating, engaging, challenging and inspiring.' [Ferrell and Smith 2018]

Digital tools are key to apprentices having a holistic learning experience, moving seamlessly between university and work environments and applying learning from each in the other.

What are the issues?

Good design will ensure that teaching can be adaptive and responsive to apprentice needs at any point in the curriculum. The traditional model of a fixed curriculum delivered by a tutor at set points will not work for apprenticeships. You need broad learning outcomes that are open to apprentices contextualising the activities and using different tools. There may be more asynchronous learning activity taking place individually or in small groups.

It will help to give your staff an indication of what tools you recommend and what level of support you can provide for each. This diagram from Manchester Metropolitan University provides a model for this:

University College London has taken a similar approach but this example maps the tools to different types of learning. Get a template to make your own copy of the ABC learning wheel here.

Voices of experience

'This is a really exciting time because technology is still new enough not to be constrained by traditional usage.' Peter Shukie, University College Blackburn

Ben's story

Ben, studied for a BSc in Digital and Technology Solutions at Aston University as a degree apprentice whilst working full time at Capgemini, an IT consultancy and outsourcing company. He talked to Jisc about how digital technologies helped him study.

Read Ben's case study.

Sky's story

Sky is on a 2 year NVQ Creative Digital Media Apprenticeship course at Basingstoke College of Technology (BCOT). "I struggled in a standard, old fashioned classroom,” she says, “and digital has been a lot of what helped me get to where I am. Being able to use digital tools, being able to work independently using digital tools, sort of helped me to stay on track." Now as a Creative Digital Apprentice at BCOT, she is supporting and encouraging teaching staff by offering her digital skills and explaining her digital experiences as a learner.

Read Sky's case study here.

Watch Sky's video here.

Be inspired/examples of practice

University of Greenwich example design

In the section on approaches to apprenticeship design we showed an example module design. Here we see what technologies might be used to support different activities in each of the online weeks of the module.

Active blended learning at the University of Northampton

Here are some tips for effective design (adapted from University of Northampton's Overcoming barriers to student engagement with Active Blended Learning.)

• Ensure there is an explicit relationship between online components of the course and face-to-face sessions.

• Connect face-to-face and online components so that face-to-face sessions use the outputs of online components or vice versa.

• Ensure that staff are regularly visible online. • Avoid repetition of content in the classroom that has already appeared online and

vice versa. • Progressively increase digital and cognitive skill requirements over time. • Clarify the value of online activities and the skills learned eg in relation to

employability • Vary the tools and types of activity but strike a balance between always doing the

same thing and overloading different tools. • The tool, the task or the knowledge can be new and challenging but avoid all three

at the same time.

Facebook pedagogy for apprentices

Simon Reddy has used closed Facebook groups with plumbing apprentices at City of Plymouth College. Apprentices find their shared experiences of poorly installed plumbing highly amusing and enjoy the experience of peer-to-peer learning.

Read Simon Reddy's article on Facebook pedagogy and education in apprenticeships here.

High-tech apprenticeships

PROCAT has made considerable investment in technology for its apprenticeships.

As well as making effective use of augmented and virtual reality it has 3-D printers in its CAD lab. This allows apprentices to create something unique and see the product they have designed. There are even facilities for 3-D printing in metal. 3-D printing allows apprentices to check their calculations and making mistakes is not a costly issue compared to trial and error on many industrial machines.

Apprentices and staff from PROCAT talk about how the college's digital approach has benefited them in ways as varied as the convenience of online assignment submission to being able to undertake virtual aircraft maintenance without putting learners at risk in this short video.

Resources to help

Find out about blended, flipped and other learning approaches in our guide on approaches to learning design.

Online learning for apprenticeships

What you need to know

Almost all learning these days consists of a blend of traditional approaches and activities that make use of digital tools and resources. Most learning is therefore technology-enhanced or blended learning (and contains elements of e-learning although the term is less frequently used now).

This section concerns learning that takes place mostly online ie distance learning in the digital environment.

Why it matters

The drivers behind online learning include the flexibility it can offer and hence, many providers are interested in the possibilities of delivering apprenticeships mainly online.

What are the issues?

The success of blended learning can serve to mask how fundamentally different mainly online learning is to its campus equivalent. Many experienced learning designers have told us that academic staff are not well supported to design and deliver online learning.

In particular, because the use of digital tools can be seen to bring efficiencies in many ways, people often fail to understand the resource implications of online learning. There is a need for a much clearer workload model associated with this form of learning and for associated staff development.

Voices of experience

'Online learning will start to take up a bigger space ... This should be the absolute first choice for a terrific amount of students. They can work and earn and also live at home: it's an affordable way to get a really good degree.' Ruth Grindey, University College of Estate Management (UCEM)

'There is a huge difference between face-to-face and wholly online courses and people often don't realise how fundamentally different it is and how to bridge that chasm.' Rod Cullen, Manchester Metropolitan University

'There is often a perception among senior managers that a successful on campus course can be magically turned into a successful online course with the same staff and the same resources. They often don't realise the need for investment in staff development and the inherent risk in this is that you always go for a very content driven model.' Anon (Rod)

'We find students very motivated but they often struggle to cope with workload issues, particularly with synchronous events online.' Survey response

Be inspired/examples of practice

Online apprenticeships

The University College of Estate Management (UCEM) delivers all of its apprenticeships mainly online.

This diagram shows an example of their delivery model for their chartered surveyor apprenticeship

Apprentices at UCEM are enthusiastic about the benefits of online learning.

'Finding the balance between working and studying is key to make an apprenticeship work and UCEM’s online learning environment makes it so easy for me to access programme material around my role. I was unsure how I would adapt to online learning, following a classroom based approach but it’s been really easy and I’ve not looked back since.

The programme material has been really engaging too, it’s up to date with key industry challenges and movements and it’s been great to share this insight with my colleagues. In fact, I’ve just recently finished a module in legal which I really enjoyed as I was able to apply some of my learnings to a real life situation at the time.' Raj Clair, Level 6 BSc (Hons) Quantity Surveying, UCEM

Read Raj's case study.

'Balancing work and study can be quite challenging, but it’s all about organising your time properly, and making sure you have the capacity to take on and balance different tasks. With UCEM I can access the majority of my programme material online, which has meant I can be more flexible with where and how I learn.

My study material is also very structured which provides consistency, and it is clear from the start of each task what is expected of me. In written assignments and workshops I receive detailed feedback on how to develop my work further next time which keeps me on my toes and ensures I am

constantly being challenged. The material used is fantastic as I can easily relate it back to my role and vice versa.' Beth Lord, Surveying Technician Apprentice, UCEM

Read Beth's case study.

Curriculum design for online learning

Glasgow Caledonian University has created a short overview of curriculum design for online learning. View it here in Adobe Spark.

Resources to help

There are a range of Jisc guides that can help you:

Curriculum design and support for online learning considers curriculum design and support needs of staff and students.

Scaling up online learning focuses on institutional aspects and considers demand and market intelligence, business models and strategic planning, and operations and procedures.

Technology and tools for online learning focuses on the implications of technology choices on staff and students.

Deliver What you need to know

If you have gone through the stages outlined in the sections Prepare and Plan you will have apprenticeship courses designed, employers engaged and be ready to begin the real business of supporting apprentice on-programme learning.

Why it matters

You should have already agreed contractually how the apprenticeship will run and what the roles and responsibilities will be. It is now up to you as the provider, along with the other stakeholders, to make the three-way academic - employer - apprentice relationship work in practice.

What are the issues?

You will have a designed curriculum and you will have thought about how to achieve synergy between on and off the job learning.

You will now be translating this into an individual learning plan for each apprentice and adapting day-to-day teaching and feedback practice to the needs of individual apprentices.

The topics we cover in this section are:

• initial assessment and induction • individual learning plan and objective setting • supporting apprentices • evidencing learning

Initial assessment and induction

What you need to know

For each apprentice you will need to undertake an initial assessment of their functional skills if they do not already have level 2 maths and English qualifications. There may be additional diagnostic tests recommended by particular professional bodies.

Using digital tools to undertake these assessments offers considerable advantages over paper-based testing.

• Online tests can be marked in seconds • Paper-based evaluations do not provide data that can be easily analysed to improve

organisational performance • Paper-based tests cannot provide intelligent ‘branching’ based on apprentice’s answers • Paper-based tests are harder to adapt to allow for known special needs

Initial assessment may be carried out at induction or separately and here we have chosen to combine the two.

Why it matters

Records of the initial assessment are an essential part of the evidence pack required for Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) audit purposes.

You will already have a student induction process. This may need to be adapted to fit apprentices who will be mainly located in their workplace and will not have a lot of time to familiarise themselves with your campus and available support services.

What are the issues?

Apprentices may have the required level 2 maths and/or English qualifications but may still need some support with these functional skills to fully meet the requirements of a degree. This is often the case where existing employees, who did the qualifications many years ago, are being retrained.

Many apprentices, even when they have studied in further education, may need help in understanding the expectations of them as independent learners in higher education.

New employees may be undergoing their employment induction at the same time as their course induction. Induction typically encompasses the following:

• Features and Benefits of being an Apprentice • Structure of the Apprenticeship programme and arrangements for reviews, delivery,

support and assessment • Introduction to Employment, Rights and Responsibilities • Introduction to Equality and Diversity • Introduction to Health and Safety • Disciplinary and grievance procedures • Other policies and procedures eg what to do if unable to attend a scheduled session • Introduction to LMS and other systems and learning resources • Safeguarding • Completion of programme forms e.g. learner agreement, IT policy agreement • Support services including IT help, learning support, pastoral and welfare services

It is a lot to take in so anything you and the employer can do to streamline and clarify the information will be helpful.

Voices of experience

'Students have to develop excellent time management and organisation - some find this more challenging than others, and we have had provide more support initially than we had forecast.' Survey response

Be inspired/examples of practice

Explain your approach to learning

This very short video by the University of Northampton explains to students how the mix of active learning approaches supports employability. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=51&v=qdFfFIwPjfE

Promoting good habits

Jasper Shotts at the University of Lincoln, was inspired by the Jisc report What makes a successful online learner? This made him think about the habits of a successful flipped learner.

He looked at which of his students had the best marks in a module and interviewed them about their habits. He used this to develop tips for the next cohort to do the module to help them build on what was seen to be working.

Resources to help

e-Safety

Loughborough College has produced an interactive e-safety course in Moodle that is free for other institutions to use. Find out more in this short video.

Citizen maths

For apprentices who do not already have the required level II in English and maths there are many excellent open source learning resources available. Citizen Maths is an excellent example of designing learning so that the learners explore concepts they find difficult by using examples from real life situations. Watch a short video on the benefits of Citizen Maths here.

Individual learning plan and objective setting

What you need to know

Every apprentice needs to have an individual learning plan (ILP) that is part of the evidence pack for Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) audit. The ILP contains all important details about delivery and assessment and ensures that the apprentice has a clear route to meeting the standard.

This is a living document that should be updated throughout the apprenticeship to give an at a glance summary of experience and achievements.

Why it matters

Your standard university enrolment process will not cover all of the information needed for your individualised learner return (ILR) to ESFA. Completing the ILP offers an opportunity to collect data that can feed the rest of the apprenticeship process.

A good ILP should go beyond the legal requirement and be used as a tool to stretch, challenge and support apprentices. This can be achieved more effectively if the ILP is in digital format.

What are the issues?

The ILP contains a considerable amount of information including: • Apprentice's job role and new skills required • Apprentice's experience and achievements • Details of the apprenticeship to be undertaken and the total planned length of the apprenticeship • A description of how the apprenticeship will be delivered and how the apprentice will achieve, including how the 20% off the job training will be quantified and delivered • Details of any support needs • Details of learning and skills required outside of the identified qualifications • Details of sub-contracting arrangements • Details of the end-point assessment organisation

An electronic version of paper, such as an interactive PDF, can offer improved opportunities for storage and retrieval for updating, but an e-portfolio system has the potential to capture an apprentice’s journey in far greater detail.

Voices of experience

'Just developing apprentices to the point where they pass isn't stretching them enough. You need to encourage them to achieve but set targets above the learners' own expectations. Don't teach them to pass - teach them to excel.' Ros Parker, Principal, PROCAT

Be inspired/examples of practice

Nova Training e-ILP

Nova Training has developed an e-ILP within its own bespoke e-portfolio system. As soon as the apprentice, assessor and employer agree the programme of learning, the system starts to track progress, turning the ILP into a live record of the learner journey.

Read our case study on Nova Training

Resources to help

You can find an example ILP template here (adapted with kind permission from one used by Birmingham City University).

Supporting apprentices

What you need to know

Apprentices are as diverse a group of individuals as you will find in any student population. What they have in common is a particular set of pressures around combining a full-time job with study and home life.

The good news is that apprentices at higher levels tend to be highly motivated students. Our survey on the delivery challenges showed that 66% of providers find student motivation presents no problem at all (25% said it was a minor issue and only 9% found it a significant problem). [Check final figures]

Why it matters

Effective use of digital technologies is key to keeping apprentices engaged and motivated by offering them the flexibility and support they need.

Much of the design ethos in all of our learning and teaching guides is based on the idea of active learning. Students need to be fully engaged with their learning activities and take appropriate responsibility for their own learning and this is particularly true for apprentices.

Creating a dialogue around the learning activities and the purpose they serve can help. With apprentices who have experienced very traditional teaching methods up to now you may need to address misconceptions about what constitutes 'proper teaching'.

Allowing learners to see how participating in a variety of different activities, and using a range of digital tools, benefits learning is key to successful engagement.

What are the issues?

Apprentices will come to you with very different levels of digital capability. Providers tell us they experience a wide spectrum of digital capabilities even when working with individuals who have similar roles with the same employer.

Apprentices spending little or no time on campus will not develop the familiarity with your environment that other students do. They will not have ready face-to-face access to library staff, study skills tutors etc and it may also be more difficult to develop peer support networks.

Apprentices will need as much guidance on matters of e-safety as other students. There may be situations where you are legally the 'prime' provider with some provision subcontracted to other providers such as a local FE college. This means you may have apprentices in contact with learners aged 14+ and additional safeguarding issues may apply.

Apprentices need an effective support network covering both on and off the job learning. They will need to be clear about who can support them with what aspects of the apprenticeship.

This diagram shows likely sources of support within the three-way dynamic of the student – university – employer relationship supporting apprenticeships.

Diagram by Jamie Harle, University of Greenwich CC BY-SA 2.0

[Note when re-drawing diagram - replace Real word [sic] considerations with industry/sector considerations]

Digital technologies are essential for maintaining the flow of communication between apprentices, tutors and workplace mentors.

The table below explores this three-way relationship a little further and looks at the type of interactions that commonly occur.

INTERACTION

FORMAT OF INTERACTION

STUDENT – WORKPLACE SUPERVISOR 20% formal time allocation

Format of interaction: Face-to-face contact with close working arrangement and opportunities for individual meetings. Possible formal line management arrangements.

Technologies: email, phone.

STUDENT – ACADEMIC SUPERVISOR 20% formal time allocation

Irregular direct contact due to a high staff: student ratio in universities and limited academic availability. Informal short meetings.

Format of interaction: Often short, some face-to-face, some online. Some interaction in structured manner through feedback on academic work.

Technologies: Email, VLE forums and question setting opportunities, formative feedback steps in courses, office hours

ACADEMIC SUPERVISOR – WORKPLACE SUPERVISOR

0% formal time allocation

Little formal introduction unless intentionally organised Different time commitments can limit this further

Format of interaction: likely asynchronous, through email

Technologies: Phone, Email, Teleconferencing.

Jamie Harle, University of Greenwich, has demonstrated the range of digital technologies and resources that degree apprenticeships may be expected to use by taking the results of our 2017 student tracker survey for Adult ,Community and Skills Provider institutions and mapping this to technologies commonly in use in HEIs.

USE OF DIGITAL LEARNING TOOLS BY ACL & SKILLS LEARNERS1

EXAMPLE

E-RESOURCES

EXAMPLE DIGITAL TOOLS

LIKELY STUDENT

INTERACTIONS

LEARNING

TYPE(S) *

OF DIGITAL TOOL

Find information online (76%)

E-library, Web Search, Open Educational Resources, Published guidance by PSRBs

Internet browser, Web of science, Pubmed, ArXiv.org

Self-study,

Student-student discussions on VLE, Tutor-student assignments to tutors

Investigation

Watch or listen to learning materials (51%)

Lecture capture, podcasts, third party online resources

Panopto, Echo 360, , narrated Powerpoint. Box of Broadcasts

Self-study

Student-tutor through online questions

Acquisition

Produce work in a digital format (43%)

Videos, costings, presentations, animations, web sites, 3D designs

Moviemaker, Camera app, Prezi, SketchUp Wordpress, Microsoft Excel

Self-study

Student-student

Production

(can also be Collaboration)

Create a formal record of your learning (40%)

E-portfolios, Employability builder software,

Mahara, Pebblepad, Employability Passport,

Self-study, shared resources, Approval by tutors or mentors

Production

(can lead to Discussion)

Use a game or SCORM package, Zurmo, OpenSim, Self-study (possibly Investigation /

simulation educationally (30%)

modelling or gamification software

User infuser, GNU Octave

with follow-up activities or reflection)

Acquisition

Work online with others (23%)

Collaborative writing, E-portfolios, Collaborative design

Wikis, Googledocs, Student-student Collaboration

Use of polling device or online quiz (17%)

Classroom Response Systems,

Polleverywhere, Mentimeter, Zeetings, Textwall

Whole class (student-student -tutor)

Discussion (after data collection)

This table illustrates the high degree of digital literacy likely to be needed by a higher or degree apprenticeship student. In some tasks, students can work independently but in others they require approaches to collaborate with each other or to engage with a tutor or workplace mentor.

'As the student has an 80% time commitment to the workplace, and may wish to study outside of term, this places greater emphasis on students to be self-reliant in installing, learning to use and, then, independently troubleshooting issues with their use of such technologies.' Jamie Harle, University of Greenwich

* The learning types in the last column of the table relate to Diana Laurillard's conversational model of learning. Find out more about this in the resources section.

Voices of experience

'The pastoral role is a really big one for us as an employer. Given the age of the apprentices and the fact that for many of them it is their first job, and there are many other things going on in their lives, it is a lot to take on.' Anonymous employer perspective.

Be inspired/examples of practice

Tips from the University of Northampton

Students are more likely to be engaged if they feel themselves to be part of a learning community. Research at the University of Northampton found:

• students are more likely to engage when they feel they are valued by staff • students work harder at online activities when staff are reliable and consistent in

their engagement with those activities • students work harder online activities where there are effective support measures • students are more likely to engage when they feel connected with their peers • groups established face-to-face can go on to engage better in online activities

Technology support at Northumbria

Northumbria University tries to remove barriers to the use of technology by providing support for both academic staff and apprentices. A wide range of support is tailored to the individual needs of the academic and their learners. This ranges from academic guidance and advice on choosing technologies appropriate to the pedagogical need through to implementing those technologies within their learning delivery. Focused help guides and instructional videos are developed for both academic staff and learners but ‘Point of need support’ is available as well. Whilst the onus of supporting the learners is on the academic, the TEL support extends to supporting the learners by dealing with individual problems and also facilitating group workshops.

This level of support is particularly important for degree apprenticeships as the learners can be on the move. They need to be encouraged so that they are happy using technology. We cannot assume that either academic staff or apprentices are digital natives. Patrick Viney

Resources to help

Read our guide to developing students' digital literacy.

Read the report from our student digital experience tracker.

Read our guide to safeguarding learners online.

Read our guide to getting started with accessibility and inclusion.

Conversational framework

Find out more about Diana Laurillard's conversational framework for learning in this short video.

Evidencing learning

What you need to know

Apprentices need to provide evidence of their learning. The evidence needed differs from the kinds of artefacts you might use to evaluate whether students on traditional higher education courses are making appropriate progress.

The evidence isn't only leading up to a final assessment of academic ability; it is also used for funding and to demonstrate the broader set of knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSBs) needed to meet the apprenticeship standard.

The range and complexity of evidence needed makes digital solutions a must and e-portfolio systems are an obvious place to look for solutions.

Why it matters

Without a robust digital solution you are unlikely to have an effective and cost efficient approach to:

• meeting your funding requirements by having an auditable record of the time apprentices spend on their learning

• supporting learning effectively by ensuring synergy between workplace and academic learning and a shared view of feedback and progress

• identifying when apprentices already to pass through the gateway to end-point assessment

What are the issues?

Northumbria University has shared its requirements specification for evidencing learning and these needs are typical of what other providers will also require:

• Easy means for gathering, storing and cataloguing evidence from the workplace • Provision of templates to prompt deeper reflection in relation to workplace

experiences and learning • Need to record off-the-job training – counting hours • Records of workplace mentor meetings and workplace visits • Means to share information securely between the apprentice, university tutors,

workplace coaches and the employer • End point assessment - Portfolio • Minimal administration

This diagram shows the different types of evidence that may be needed.

Not all of the e-portfolio systems currently in use in higher education will be geared up to meeting all of the requirements of apprenticeships. Supporting reflection on learning is a common requirement on traditional degree courses but detailed tracking of time spent on learning is less usual.

Voices of experience

'80% of learning for apprentices occurs in the workplace so that has to be a key locus of learning and the programme has to be designed to effectively capture and develop their learning within the workplace not just in the 20% off-the-job where they sit in a classroom here. That's the difference between a proper degree apprenticeship and an academic programme that sits within a set of apprenticeship arrangements. The idea is that the apprenticeship arrangements and the degree are synonymous with each other and they are very much integrated.' Ann Minton, University of Derby

Be inspired/examples of practice

From lecture capture to workplace evidence.

Northumbria University is delivering a range of apprenticeships and, in so far as possible, is using its existing systems. The university has apprentices undertaking a professional development module that requires them to produce a personal action plan assessed via a presentation.

The university wanted a way to achieve this that was effective in resource terms and also wanted to build in peer review. Ensuring this was easy for the apprentices to do and would scale up to work across all platforms was difficult but has been achieved.

Northumbria was already using an Panopto for lecture capture and saw its potential to support apprenticeships. Panopto is now used by apprentices to record 10 minute video presentations that can be shared nationwide for peer feedback. Using Panopto overcomes many problems associated with recording videos for subsequent assessment. It is easy for students to use and has all of the audit information needed by the university which wouldn't be available if they had used other cloud services.

Using an e-portfolio for tracking

Northumbria University was already using PebblePad and has found it well suited to meeting the needs of their new apprenticeship programmes.

Patrick Viney explained that key to this success is using two different elements of the e-portfolio tool: the private individual learning space to record reflections and ATLAS - the active teaching, learning and assessment space for sharing when necessary.

Apprentices use PebblePad to record their 20% off the job training. They have a template to log their hours and what they did.

Each apprentice will use a combination of workbooks and portfolios:

• workbooks contain records, such as off the job training records, mentor meeting records, tripartite meetings during workplace visits, etc. These workbooks are used throughout the apprenticeship

• the portfolio will contain selected evidence demonstrating how they are meeting the standard and is submitted for end-point assessment.

The problem of getting material to external examiners is a long-standing issue for universities and the issues are exacerbated when it comes to sharing information with employers. Northumbria has found that the use of PebblePad solves this problem.

The apprentice can decide what to share, who with and for how long which is more effective than simply emailing a copy. They can also make live updates to shared information. The material stored in PebblePad meets the university's requirements for Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) audit as there is a copy of each apprentice's work in the assessment space so it is available even if the student accidentally deletes it.

Ensuring that the apprentices fill in their record sheets is the weakest link and the university deals with that by creating an assessed module each year which looks at their learning records. To pass the assessment for the module apprentices have to present their four best reflections, plus have their portfolio assessed plus do a 2.5K word reflection on their learning so far.

Resources to help

There are a lot more examples in our guide to e-portfolios and learning processes.

You can also listen to Emma Purnell talking about the value of e-portfolio-building processes.

Assess What you need to know

Assessment is a major driver of student behaviour. This is true throughout higher education and particularly so for apprenticeships.

Apprentices are time poor so there will be a natural tendency to see what is assessed as priority areas for expending effort.

The upside of this is that contextualisation to the workplace gives assessment in apprenticeships an authenticity that many courses aspire to but few achieve.

Why it matters

You are not only assessing apprentices with the ultimate goal of awarding a degree. You are also preparing them for an end-point assessment (EPA) that may require them to demonstrate knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSBs) additional to/different from the requirements of the degree.

Many higher level apprenticeship standards require EPA to be carried out by a separate organisation from the training provider. The idea of preparing learners for assessment by another organisation is familiar to providers in the FE and skills sector but much less common in higher education.

What are the issues?

Many of the potential issues surrounding the three-way fit between the apprenticeship standard, the degree on offer and the job role are covered in the sections on supporting apprentices.

The apprenticeship assessment plans were devised by employer-led Trailblazer groups who may not always approach assessment in the same way as higher education providers. Achieving both academic rigour and practicality may involve interpretation and negotiation in relation to the assessment plans.

Done right, apprenticeships offer some of the best opportunities in the sector to demonstrate learning and achievement.

Voices of experience

'This is situated learning. The learner drives the learning through the lens of their role and their job at work and uses real-work activity to inform the assessment process not something that has been contrived for academic study.' Ann Minton, University of Derby

'Apprenticeships are a difficult balancing act as they are full-time employees and have home life as well so they are very focused on assessment. There is a focus on 'is this material directly related to the assignment or not'? The risk is losing the more rounded educational aspects due to this focus on assessment.' Mark Price

'We are constantly thinking up ways to create an assignment that isn't made up of 20 parts to meet all the requirements. You have to start with assessment and work backwards.' Mark Price, University of Wolverhampton

Feedback, monitoring and review

What you need to know

Feedback provides information to apprentices about where they are in relation to their learning goals so that they can evaluate their progress, identify gaps or misconceptions in their understanding and take remedial action.

Generated by tutors, peers, mentors, supervisors, a computer, or as a result of self-assessment, feedback is a vital component of effective learning.

Why it matters

Research tells us that effective feedback processes are one of the most important contributory factors to student success.

Recognising feedback for what it is and knowing how to apply it in future are key to developing independent, self-directed learners. This is important for all learners but particularly so in the context of apprenticeships.

We have a wealth of experience in this area summarised in our guides cited in the resources section.

What are the issues?

Common issues for all types of learner may be exacerbated in an apprenticeship:

• timeliness of feedback - especially from academic tutors • recognising feedback - apprentices will receive tutor, mentor, manager, supervisor and peer

feedback in many formats and will need to understand how to apply it to the learning • quality of feedback - good feedback is not only corrective it also feeds forward so you

understand what you need to do differently next time; not all of those giving feedback to apprentices may be trained to apply good practice in doing so

Additional issues arise because of the complex three way relationships involved in an apprenticeship - see the model in the section on supporting apprentices.

Each of the players involved has a specific role to play. However they also have 'deficits'. An academic tutor may not be totally up-to-date with workplace practices and a workplace mentor may struggle to situate experiences in underlying theories and methodologies.

Good employers will want to be fully involved in this process, sometimes to the extent of seeing feedback before the apprentice so that they can support them in reacting to it. We show in the section on working with employers that data protection regulations are not necessarily a barrier to effective three-way communications. You need to discuss and clarify procedures beforehand and ensure that your contract covers the intended approach.

Being an apprentice is not easy and you need to ensure the processes are working well in this vital area.

Voices of experience

'Employers absolutely want to see this [feedback] and would be on our backs if the feedback isn't good enough.' Davis Soloman, PROCAT

'Employers with one or two apprentices want as much feedback as those with 10 to 12.' Mark Price, University of Wolverhampton

Be inspired/examples of practice

Learning walks at PROCAT

PROCAT undertakes 'learning walks' to support tutors in setting objectives and giving feedback to apprentices. The learning walks are 10-30 minute themed observations. They particularly look at whether targets are stretching, whether progress is accurately recorded and whether feedback is effective.

'If feedback isn't good and detailed we won't know how ready the apprentice is for EPA.' Ros Parker, Principal, PROCAT

Early warning

One large employer told us a cautionary tale about the need for timely communication when an apprentice is not progressing as expected. The example was an apprentice who was struggling and who had missed multiple deadlines and been found guilty of plagiarism twice. The employer did not become aware of this until their service review call. They have since asked the university concerned to supply all progress reviews direct to them. 'If we had early access to this information these issues could be nipped in the bud.'

Resources to help

Read our guide on transforming assessment and feedback with technology particularly the section on feedback and feed forward.

Read our short guide on feedback and feed forward.

Gateway to end-point assessment (EPA)

What you need to know

An apprentice can only take the end-point assessment (EPA) once they have satisfied the gateway requirements set out in the assessment plan and their employer and training provider are content they have attained sufficient skills, knowledge and behaviours.

The gateway is referred to in some standards a discussion with the apprentice, employer and trainer to sign off that the candidate has met the standards prior to end assessment, and in other assessment plans it is a formal submission of evidence.

Why it matters

The gateway matters because it is a fundamental part of the apprenticeship process even though the process may be a relatively light touch one in the integrated degree model where the EPA is being carried out by the university.

Where the EPA is carried out by another body it is important that you as the training provider and the employer have a shared view of the apprentices readiness.

What are the issues?

Few higher education providers have yet been through this process, especially not a gateway to external EPA, so there is not a lot of experience to share.

We invite you to contact us if you would like to contribute to this section of the guide. Please contact lisa.gray@jisc.ac.uk.

End-point assessment (EPA)

What you need to know

A reminder of what we said up front: an apprenticeship is a job and a higher education level qualification is only one component of what makes up a higher level apprenticeship.

Generally learners in higher education are working towards a degree as their ultimate goal. For apprentices, a degree is a, very important but, penultimate step along the way (even though the two may be closely interrelated in the integrated model).

Why it matters

The apprenticeship standard will specify arrangements for a holistic end-point assessment (EPA) that evaluates the knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSBs) required to perform the job role.

The EPA can only be carried out once the minimum duration for the apprenticeship is complete.

The apprenticeship standard will specify whether the EPA is integrated into the degree or must be conducted by a separate assessment organisation. This means that universities may be training apprentices for a final assessment that will be carried out by a third party - the choice of which rests with the employer. Some standards may involve the apprentice completing a period of further workplace experience prior to EPA eg where a professional body is awarding chartered status upon successful completion of the EPA.

What are the issues?

The issues vary considerably between apprenticeship standards where the EPA is integrated into the degree ie carried out by the University and those standards where the EPA is external to the University.

Integrated EPA is generally far easier to plan for and manage. The degree may contain a final 'capstone' module, the assessment for which constitutes the EPA.

If you are registered to do EPA for a standard (or thinking of applying to register) you need to be aware that the EPA must be carried out by assessors who have relevant practice-based experience and expertise. Academic subject expertise may not be sufficient to qualify your lecturers as assessors competent to assess against the requirements of the job role.

Where the EPA is external matters are more complicated.

• The employer must choose the EPA organisation and there will be a separate contract with them.

• The choice of EPA organisation may not be known when the apprentices start their programme.

• Funding for the EPA comes out of the total funding for the apprenticeship and the cost may not be known at the start of the apprenticeship.

• Organisations need to register to deliver EPA for particular apprenticeship standards and currently many standards have a limited choice of, or indeed no, approved EPA organisation.

• The EPA organisation may use different systems and assessment methods to your own.

Voices of experience

'In most areas of academic practice students are working towards academic achievement with a degree certificate as the endpoint. With a degree apprenticeship it is more work-based learning and developing a synergy between workplace experiences, learning from them and reflecting on them against the academic models.' Patrick Viney, Northumbria University

'Apprenticeships are about knowledge, skills and behaviours. Knowledge is bread-and-butter stuff for universities. Universities do some skills. Universities don't usually go anywhere near behaviours.' Mark Price, University of Wolverhampton

Be inspired/examples of practice

Open to interpretation

Assessment plans vary greatly in terms of how specific they are. The range of end-point assessment elements includes:

• Portfolio • Project • Structured interview • Apprentice showcase • Practical observation • Professional discussion • Self-Assessment • Situational judgement test • Written submission/exam

Providers have a role to play in demonstrating to EPA organisations how innovation and creativity can be applied to demonstrating apprentices have met the required standard.

Even seemingly traditional approaches such as an exam can be open to different interpretations. It may not mean a traditional closed book exam. It could be open book, could be completed over a longer period of time than a two-hour sitting, could use media other than text ...

Clarify EPA requirements

We heard a cautionary tale from a large employer with many apprentices who had an unwelcome surprise when their first cohort of degree apprentices reached the EPA point. Their EPA consisted of a project requiring 300+ hours input from the learner. The employer had not fully understood this requirement and did not realise their apprentices would be taken out of the business for so long.

Furthermore, it was a requirement of the project that it needed to have a significant impact on the business and building up the evidence for this raised issues of client confidentiality.

The employer felt that the university provider showed a lack of understanding of their business and that the university, as the training provider, should have provided a choice of projects for EPA. The employer knew that the project was part of the standard but felt that the university's interpretation of the standard wasn't anticipated and was problematic. 'The P word [project] always raises alarm bells for us now.'

Resources to help

Few higher education providers have yet been through this process, especially not external EPA, so there is not a lot of experience to share.

We invite you to contact us if you would like to contribute to this section of the guide. Please contact lisa.gray@jisc.ac.uk.