Welcome

Progress in Higher ApprenticeshipsNovember 2013

Michele RobertsHead of Higher Apprenticeship Development

Apprenticeships

•Integral to the Skills Funding Agency, a partner organisation of BIS, with two customer-

facing services:

•National Apprenticeship Service responsible for increasing Traineeships &

Apprenticeship opportunities

•National Careers Service provides impartial careers information, advice & guidance online,

by telephone or face-to-face, including enhanced follow-up for Apprenticeships

• Making skills work for England

The Work we Do

•Fund and promote adult FE and skills training in England including Traineeships and

Apprenticeships in a way that supports economic growth

•Deliver £4.1 billion of skills training through contracts with over 1,000 colleges, training

organisations and employers to support economic growth 

•Enable FE to meet local need in most cost-effective way

Working with Employers

NAS works with more than 30,000 employers in England

A range of services for employers

–Working with larger employers we encourage Apprenticeship recruitment and programme

development

–Small Business Team offering services to smaller employers in offering Apprenticeship

opportunities

–Apprenticeship vacancies service working with Apprenticeship providers to advertise

vacancies, free of charge, for young people to apply (last year offering 100,000 vacancies)

–Promotion and communication of Apprenticeships through a range of activities, such as

Awards, Apprenticeship Grant for Employers, Campaigns or Policy changes

Working with learning Providers

and the sector

•Joint working with UVAC to promote Higher Apprenticeships to Universities and wider HE

sector

– Best Practice in Work based learning delivery

– Developing expertise in the HE sector in Apprenticeships

•Widening capacity of learning providers across all levels for Higher Apprenticeships

– Expansion of delivery into Higher Apprenticeships

•Providing communication, expertise and ‘know-how’ on Apprenticeships for all

– www.apprenticeships.gov.uk source of information, advice and guidance for all

•Apprenticeship brand strong among employers (84% satisfied with Apprenticeship

programme) and learners (88% satisfied with Apprenticeship programme)*

* NAS Review of Apprenticeship Research March 2013

What is an Apprenticeship?

• Focus of an Apprenticeship is about equipping individuals with new skills and learning

they need for their job roles

– Covering more than 170 industries and 1500 job roles from advertising to youth work

via environmental engineering and nuclear decommissioning

• Future employment and progression

• A way for young people and adults to earn while they learn in a real job, gaining a real

qualification and a real future

• Apprentices help businesses to grow their own talent by developing a motivated, skilled

and qualified workforce

Higher Apprenticeships

what are they?

• A Higher Apprenticeship is a recognised learning framework at:

• Level 4 (Certificate of Higher Education)

• Level 5 (Foundation Degree)

• Level 6 (Bachelor’s Degree)

• Level 7 (Master’s Degree)

• Higher Apprenticeships are designed to enable a learner in employment develop

the technical knowledge and occupational competence to perform a defined job

role at a specified level

• Higher Apprenticeships are employer led focused on developing the higher level

skills particular sectors need

Growing Higher Apprenticeships

• £25m investment by Government in 2011 - Higher Apprenticeship Fund

• Increase the number of Higher Apprenticeship frameworks available, covering more job

roles and industries

• Create work-based vocational education route for professions

• Engage a new cohort of learners in higher level skills

• Establish a respected, credible vocational learning offer

• Achieve parity of esteem with more academic education

Higher apprentices could earn around £150,000 more over their lifetime – comparable to

similar returns for the average graduate (London Economics, 2011)

Higher Apprenticeship Fund

• Delivered 30 ambitious, sector led partnerships

• Promises additional 20,000 Higher Apprenticeship starts

• 45 Higher Frameworks developed or in development

• New Frameworks approved on www.AFO.org.uk

• Some still developing

• New Frameworks are being promoted to increase take up by employers and individuals

– NAS running a campaign in promoting Project Management, Human Resource, Information Technology, Health

Practitioner, Advanced Engineering

How Higher Apprenticeships

are growing….

Higher Apprenticeships

Make it your businessNew Recruits

Higher Apprenticeships can offer great potential when considering recruitment

–wider pool of applicants, reaching more young people with talent and qualifications into jobs (1300 job

vacancies on Av site attracted 7413 applicants)

–Ability to offer vocational pathways in highly skilled areas of the business, growing your own and at the

same time gaining qualifications

–Talent and specialist skills developed earlier from within the business allowing greater progression

Existing Employees

Higher Apprenticeships can offer progression opportunities and help develop the skills and

professional qualifications within your business

–Ability to progress from Higher Certificate or Foundation Degree levels to Masters level

–Professional membership and standing within the sector you work

–Individuals to progress in career aspirations and continue their Apprenticeship route from Advanced level

Employers

InvolvedATT, Airbus, ASOS, Axa Insurance, AVIVA, BAE Systems, Balfour Beatty, Barceló Hotels, Barchester Homes, BDO, Bell Valves,

Bentley Motors, Boots, Bovis Lend Lease, Bristol Media, Britannia, British Airways, Britvic, BT, Burberry, CAA, Carillion, Cambridge

University Press, Centrica, Chubb Insurance, Coffee Snobs, Costain, Compass Group, David Wilson Homes, Deloitte, Depuy

International, DHL, E.ON, European Space Agency, Eversheds, Everything Everywhere, Financial Skills Partnership, Flybe, Frank

Hirth, Fujifilm, G4S, GM Vauxhall, Herbert Smith, Jet 2, Housing 21, HSBC, IBM, I-Build Eco, Jaguar Land Rover, John Lewis, Keir,

KPMG, Legal and General, Leyland Trucks, Marks and Spencer, McNulty Offshore, Midas, Ministry of Defence, MITIE, Monarch,

National Grid, Mott MacDonald, National Space Centre, Siemens, Nationwide, Nestle, Next, NG Bailey, Oxford Instruments,

Persimmon Homes, Pertemps, Price Bailey, PwC, Remploy, Rentokil Initial, Saga Home Care, Santander, Scottish and Southern

Energy, Sellafield, Servisair, Shepherd Offshore, Tata Chemicals, Tata Steel, The Shaw Trust, TNT UK, Transport for London, UK

Space Agency, Unilever, Westfield Stratford, Wetherspoons, Wilmott Dixon, Whitbread, Yorkshire Water.

Source: The Sky’s the Limit, National Apprenticeship Service

Providers

InvolvedAbingdon and Whitney College, Aim Academy, ATC, Babcock, Babington Business College, Barking and Dagenham College, Barnsley

College, Birmingham Metropolitan College, Blackburn College, BPP University College of Professional Studies, Bradford College,

Bromley College, BT Group PLC, Building Engineering Training Services, Cambridge Regional College, Capita, Central Sussex

College, Chichester College, City & Islington College, City of Bristol College, City of Westminster College, College of NW London,

Compass Group, Ealing, Hammersmith & West London College, Elmfield Training, Hartlepool College, Havering College, Highbury

College, Hull College, Impact Learning and Data Solutions, JHP Group, Kaplan, Kidderminster Academy, Leeds City College, Leeds

College of Building, Leek and Buxton College, Leicester College, Loughborough College, Middlesex University, National Construction

College, NESCOT, Newcastle College, Newham College, Oaklands College, Pera Training, Rolls-Royce PLC, Selby College, Sheffield

Hallam University, Skills Solutions, South Essex College, Telford College of Arts and Technology, The Manchester College, University

College Birmingham, University of Derby, University of Greenwich, University of Plymouth, University of West of England, Uxbridge

College, Warrington College, Weston College, Workpays.

Source: LSIS, Higher Apprenticeship Research – Baseline Report

Progression in Apprenticeships

• Part of telling the FE “story”- good and bad

• University of Greenwich Progression of Apprentices to Higher Education (2013)

15.4% Advanced Apprenticeship progression contrasts with NAS research (2010)

which identifies 50% of apprentices who complete an Advanced Apprenticeship

show an interest in pursuing a degree-level equivalent course

– Suggests that 34.6% of learners completing an Advanced Apprenticeship show an

interest in pursuing a degree-level course but do not progress

– Suggests 50% of Advanced apprentices do not show an interest in progressing

• Work in the Agency is starting to establish the right metrics to determine trends

– Our interest is in showing both the impact and value for money of progression

Progression in Apprenticeships

• The growth of Higher Apprenticeships and the emphasis on work-

based craft, technician, management / professional progression

routes may change attitudes and practice– CBI report (July 2013) on new routes to higher skills strongly

supports the expansion and promotion of Apprenticeships and other work-based “learn-while-you-earn” models to deliver on higher level skills

– The importance of Apprenticeships at Levels 4 and 5 cannot be underestimated

Why Reform?

•Poor feedback from customers

•Employers’ concerns over quality

•Insufficient tailoring to employer/sector needs

•Assessment can dominate

•Too complex to take on an Apprentice (Holt)

•Need to re-centre the agenda on employers

Richard Review outcomes•Funding and policy consultations complete

•Hundreds of views collated•Implementation plan launched end of October•Trailblazers will lead the way in 2013/14

– Defining standards for the first few occupations – Establishment of final assessment process

•Reform will take several years to complete•Important that HE is at the table of reform

Find out more..

www.apprenticeships.org.uk

www. apprentice.tv/category/higher-apprenticeships