Degree Apprenticeships Toolkit

We’ve pulled together a list of FAQs regarding degree and higher apprenticeships.

An Apprenticeship can be defined as a full-time paid job, which incorporates a programme of structured on and off the job training meeting.

The government additionally defines that it must meet certain specific criteria regarding duration (12 months or more), training (min 280 hrs, of which at least 30% away from workplace), employed hours (min. 30hrs a week), wages, achievement of minimum standards of English and Mathematics, and compliance with national apprenticeship standards (previously frameworks)

It is important to understand that the government’s model for apprenticeships of all types is that they should be employer led and driven and with the training largely workplace delivered.  Indeed for most apprenticeships there is not even a requirement for an educational qualification to be included (although most do at least at the higher levels).  Consequently most of the government guidance is written from the context/perspective of the employer rather than the education provider who is essentially a supplier (of education/training services) to the employer in this model.

However there are some more HE specific sources of useful information – probably the most comprehensive is published by The University Vocational Awards Council, who in 2015 produced a document called “Apprenticeship, Higher Apprenticeship and Degree Apprenticeship – A Guide for HEIs”. http://www.uvac.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/UVAC-Apprenticeship-Guide-12th-March-2015.pdf

The HEFCE website also has a Policy Guide on Degree Apprenticeships (including information on funding opportunities for HEIS’) at:

UUK have also produced some information on degree apprenticeships, including a March 2016 report on their projected growth:

And a 2019 update:

The government also produced a fact sheet and “quick start guide” for HEI’s interested in delivering apprenticeships (for the year 2015-16).

It should also be noted that much of the above applies specifically to England, and that different arrangements may apply in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

It is also worthwhile to note that the development of Higher and Degree Apprenticeships in Engineering is perhaps somewhat behind that in other areas, notably IT and Business, Finance and Law.  Some useful and transferable information can be found by looking at these.  For example:

 

Any views, thoughts, and opinions expressed herein are solely that of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of the Engineering Professors’ Council or the Toolkit sponsors and supporters.

Degree Apprenticeships Toolkit

We’ve pulled together a checklist of things for university departments to consider when proposing to get involved in degree apprenticeships.  It’s still evolving so please do contact us if you have experience or advice you would like to add.

 

Funding arrangements

There are two crucial differences in the funding arrangements for apprenticeships compared to conventional degree courses.  Firstly the body responsible for the funding is the Skills Funding Agency or SFA rather than HEFCE, and secondly with the contractual arrangements with the employer rather than the student as the primary customer (the university is essentially a contracted supplier of education services to the employer under the apprenticeship model).  The government also pays a contribution towards the cost to a pre-agreed maximum sum defined at the point of approval with the SFA.   These different funding mechanisms have a very different set of terminology and processes than those which universities are more commonly familiar.

An HEI needs to (or apply to) be included on the Skills Funding Agency’s Register of Training Organisations (ROTO).  SFA will announce when ROTO is open to new applicants.  In addition to inclusion on ROTO an HEI will until the introduction of the Apprenticeship levy need to secure an SFA ‘allocation’ to claim funding to deliver Degree Apprenticeships.  SFA has in the last 15 months run two procurement rounds opening ROTO to HEIs and inviting HEIs to apply for an allocation.  HEIs that are not on ROTO and do not have an allocation should prepare for forthcoming procurement rounds.   HEIs not on ROTO may also want to consider how they can deliver Higher and Degree Apprenticeships with an FEC that is on ROTO and has an allocation.

In summary, to deliver a higher apprenticeship an HEI must be either:

Any HEI who already holds an SFA funding agreement which contains an apprenticeships allocation can go ahead and deliver higher and degree apprenticeships.

For HEIs who do not hold an existing contract to deliver apprenticeships with the SFA, the SFA ran its first expression of interest (EOI) round for HEIs with a clear plan for higher and degree apprenticeship delivery as part of their offer to employers in March 2016; this complements the additional £13m which government allocated to further education institutions (FEIs) in late 2014 to expand their higher apprenticeship provision. Further information is available by registering on the SFA’s procurement portal.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/skills-funding-register-for-opportunities-to-tender

HEIs may deliver the whole apprenticeship directly or, act as the lead apprenticeship provider, sharing the delivery by subcontracting with other HEIs or FEIs.

The SFA is also offering automatic entry onto the ROTO to HEIs meeting specific criteria.

  1. Those in receipt of direct public grants for HE.
  2. Those including institutes of the University of London.
  3. Those who have the right to award one or more types of UK degree
  4. Those who have not had any material concerns raised as part of the HEFCE process of financial risk assessment.

Funding

The standard undergraduate fee is ÂŁ9k per annum at present. This may of course be varied in the contract with the employer, by agreement. The employer is liable for the course fees (not the student/apprentice). HEFCE have also stated that the higher cost subject premium will be available for eligible subjects (as for standard degree programmes).

In the funding model under trial for apprenticeship standards during 2014 to 2015 and 2015 to 2016, the government contributes two-thirds of the total agreed price, up to a cap, with employers contributing the other third in cash, all paid to the lead provider in a payment schedule agreed with the employer.

Funding is quite different from standard degree programmes.  It is earned against actual activity.  All apprentices must have an Individual Learner Record (ILR) file. Payments are earned by the HEI by confirming through the apprentice’s ILR record that they have received the latest employer one-third payment against their agreed payment schedule. ILR completion triggers the government’s two-thirds payment.

Development funding

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has also recently announced the Degree Apprenticeship Development Fund. The fund will provide £8 million starting in academic year 2016/17 to help universities and colleges work with employers to develop new degree apprenticeships ready for delivery from academic year 2017/18. The Skills Funding Agency will receive a further £2 million to encourage more learners to take up degree apprenticeships. Queries about how to apply for funding can be sent to: degreeapprenticeships@hefce.ac.uk.

 

Any views, thoughts, and opinions expressed herein are solely that of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of the Engineering Professors’ Council or the Toolkit sponsors and supporters.

Degree Apprenticeships Toolkit

We’ve pulled together a checklist of things for university departments to consider when proposing to get involved in degree apprenticeships.  It’s still evolving so please do contact us if you have experience or advice you would like to add.

 

As for all new programme proposals, numbers of students required in order to make a programme viable is crucial. This needs to be clearly stated and written into the contracts that will be signed. This is vital anyway; but particularly vital when offering a degree apprenticeship programme that is formed around a number of employers, consortia, trade federations and SMEs. If for example the university contracts to run such a programme for 20 students and there are only 17/18/19, then this can lead to all sorts of debates and discussions – and conflicts – if for example every employer except one has delivered the numbers promised. This must be clearly understood, and must also be recognised and addressed as a key part of the contract.  Close co-operation between the lead academic department and the HEI’s finance and planning services will be needed and, as we said earlier, a very different approach taken to evaluating viability than for a standard academic programme.  The longer term and broader relationship to be developed with the company will need to be taken into account, for example, along with the opportunity to access a new funding source.

 

Any views, thoughts, and opinions expressed herein are solely that of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of the Engineering Professors’ Council or the Toolkit sponsors and supporters.

The Recruitment and Admissions Toolkit has not been updated as yet but has been left here for archive purposes.

Some toolkit content is available to members only. For best results, make sure you’re logged in.

The following provides links to a range of resources and information to help university admissions tutors and those working in recruitment and admissions roles.

And each year, in November, the Engineering Professors’ Council organises a Recruitment and Admissions Forum so that all of those involved in the recruitment and admission of students to engineering programmes in UK higher education have the opportunity to get together and share experiences and best practice, as well as hear the latest from policy makers, the funding agencies and Government.  We also provide feedback to members from the annual early enrolments survey, which provides an indication of student numbers compared with the prior year for both undergraduate and postgraduate (taught) students.

Don’t forget to check out the Tomorrow’s Engineers programme website which offers a wide range of resources to assist schools, prospective students and their advisers.  The latest range, including a leaflet entitled ‘Make a Difference to the World: Engineering at University’ may be found here.

And do take a look at this set of films, produced by the 2014 winner of the EPC’s Engaging in Engineering awards, Dr Emma Carter of the University of Sheffield – aimed at 8 to 15 year olds, their particularly useful for schools outreach activity.

If you can’t find what you’re looking for on this page, why not ask a colleague by starting a discussion?  Or feel free to drop us a line directly.

Contents:

 

Any views, thoughts, and opinions expressed herein are solely that of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of the Engineering Professors’ Council or the Toolkit sponsors and supporters.

The Recruitment and Admissions Toolkit has not been updated as yet but has been left here for archive purposes.

 

Engineering Council website: ‘Information for Students’.

In addition, the following are available on request from marketing@engc.org.uk,  putting IEng/CEng in the subject line.

1. A ‘Student guide to professional registration with the Engineering Council’

2. An introductory email aimed at new undergraduates.

 

Any views, thoughts, and opinions expressed herein are solely that of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of the Engineering Professors’ Council or the Toolkit sponsors and supporters.

The Recruitment and Admissions Toolkit has not been updated as yet but has been left here for archive purposes.

 

The EPC routinely tracks applications trends at both undergraduate and postgraduate level across all of the engineering disciplines.  We report and comment on these at our Recruitment and Admissions Forum, held in November annually.  The latest may be accessed in our Data explorer.

UCAS scheduled statistical releases.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills published a report in December 2013 on the trends in applications and demand from students for postgraduate study.

 

Any views, thoughts, and opinions expressed herein are solely that of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of the Engineering Professors’ Council or the Toolkit sponsors and supporters.

The Recruitment and Admissions Toolkit has not been updated as yet but has been left here for archive purposes.

 

The EPC reviews and reports on graduate engineers’ ability to gain employment on leaving university.  The latest information may be accessed by members in our Data explorer.

 

Any views, thoughts, and opinions expressed herein are solely that of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of the Engineering Professors’ Council or the Toolkit sponsors and supporters.

The Recruitment and Admissions Toolkit has not been updated as yet but has been left here for archive purposes.

 

A brief guide to the Scottish educational system: for admissions tutors elsewhere.

Pupils in Scotland move from primary to secondary school one year later than in England and (traditionally) from school to university one year earlier, around age 17. The state school system is almost entirely homogeneous and comprehensive. University degrees are a year longer to compensate for the earlier entry. Thus a BEng typically takes 4 years and MEng takes 5 years. Engineering programmes are usually specialised from the start but most Scottish bachelors degrees provide a broad programme in the first two years followed by specialised honours courses in the final two years; in general Scottish education places a higher emphasis on breadth than in England.

National qualifications are administered by a single Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA). For many years pupils have taken the following set of examinations.

It is tempting to compare the qualifications with GCSE, AS and A levels but there are significant differences.

This picture is evolving as a result of the Curriculum for Excellence, currently pro­gressing through secondary schools. Major changes have occurred in primary and the earlier years of secondary education but the impact on pre-university qualifications may be small.

Helpful publications

John Davies, revised 2014-12-06

 

Any views, thoughts, and opinions expressed herein are solely that of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of the Engineering Professors’ Council or the Toolkit sponsors and supporters.

The Recruitment and Admissions Toolkit has not been updated as yet but has been left here for archive purposes.

 

Developments in Pre-University Education Classification of Vocational Qualifications and the Tech Bacc.

There have been some developments as far as the Government’s classification of qualifications into ‘Technical Level’ (which was originally called ‘Occupational’), ‘Applied General’ and ‘Academic’.  It is understood that ‘Occupational’ was meant to mean specialist craft/technician qualifications and the Government envisioned them not to be a “normal” route to higher education.

The scene changed considerably during 2014.  The larger BTEC engineering qualifications have moved from being classified as ‘Applied General’ to ‘Technical Level’.  Only the smaller BTEC Engineering Certificate (equivalent to one AS qualification) is left in the ‘Applied General’ category.

There may be two reasons for this:

  1. Following the consultation (in 2013) the Government agreed that ‘Technical Level’ qualifications could be used for entrance to university.
  2. The new Technical Baccalaureate (Tech Bacc) performance measure only recognises ‘Technical Level’ qualifications, not ‘Applied General’.

Relevant documents can be found at:

The City and Guilds Technical Baccalaureate

City and Guilds officially launched their ‘TechBac’ qualification in, among other subjects, Engineering, Construction and IT. (This should not be confused with the Government’s Tech Bacc which, like the EBacc, is not a qualification, merely a performance measure.)  The TechBac claims to be a blend of technical qualifications, a project qualification and a work placement.  There appear to be two Level 2 TechBac qualifications (presumably of different sizes).  Both involve a free-standing ‘Level 2 Higher Project’ and either a Technical Award or Technical Certificate in Engineering.  A Level 3 TechBac is termed an ‘Advanced TechBac’ and it comes in three sizes: Certificate, Extended Certificate and Diploma.  All have the free-standing ‘Level 3 Extended Project’ as a mandatory component.

The Pearson Edexcel BTEC Nationals

Most of the Level 3 BTEC National qualifications are now in the Tech Level category and therefore qualify to be included in the Government’s Tech Bacc.  The BTEC Nationals are being revised and teaching to the new specification will start in 2016.  This means that university admission tutors are unlikely to see the new qualifications before the 2018 entry.  There is very little detail at the time of writing this paper as to the content of the new qualifications.

Edexcel are changing the names of their national qualifications and the following table is an interpretation of the changes:

GLH* A Level Equivalent 2010 National 2016 National
180 0.5 Certificate —
360 1.0 Subsidiary Diploma Award
540 1.5 90-Credit Diploma Subsidiary Certificate
720 2.0 Diploma Certificate
1080 3.0 Extended Diploma Diploma

* GLH = Guided Learning Hours

One thing to note is that the various sizes of BTEC qualifications do allow the mixture of BTEC and A Level qualifications.

Currently, the best information on the 2016 Nationals can be found at:

Developments at Level 2

Awareness of the new school performance measures, Progress 8 and Attainment 8, is increasing and they will certainly be a great improvement on the best-5 GCSEs, which they replace from 2016.  The English Baccalaureate stays but its importance may decline.

There is a range of GCSE-sized engineering qualifications that have been approved by the Government to be counted in Progress-8 and Attainment-8 metrics.  In the areas of engineering and construction, these include:

University Technical Colleges (UTCs) are now able to blend GCSEs with these Level 2 vocational qualifications without their league table position being compromised.  Up to 3 vocational qualifications can be included.  Further information can be found at:

Teaching of the new versions of GCSE Science qualifications are due start in 2016.  The new much tighter Key Stage 4 specifications for science mean that the old modular structure for science will no longer be practical.  Schools will not be able to mix the teaching of combined and single science subjects as the additional material covered in the single sciences is spread throughout the topics.  The Combined Science GCSE will be double-weighted.  No single Combined Science will be available.  The new specifications can be found at:

The tighter specifications mean that there will be less variation between awarding bodies and that would have made the design of A level sciences easier – had their revision been delayed until 2018.

 

Any views, thoughts, and opinions expressed herein are solely that of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of the Engineering Professors’ Council or the Toolkit sponsors and supporters.

The Recruitment and Admissions Toolkit has not been updated as yet but has been left here for archive purposes.

 

UCAS provides a useful set of links to information about student finance in each of the devolved administrations:

 

Any views, thoughts, and opinions expressed herein are solely that of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of the Engineering Professors’ Council or the Toolkit sponsors and supporters.

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