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Degree Apprenticeships Toolkit

It is important to recognise that a successful degree apprenticeship programme has to be founded on a strong and real partnership between an employer (or group of employers) and a provider (or group of providers). The following are normally essential elements that need to be in place to underpin this, before starting significant development:

A clear statement of intent and purpose agreed by all parties;
A programme structure that suits all parties;
A clear delineation of where responsibilities and accountabilities lie;
A clear statement of deliverables and which of the parties is to deliver.

There are also some key deliverables or structural demands that have to be addressed as follows:

Innovation in teaching and learning methodologies: because much of the content is employer and employment driven, and because this is following a statutory scheme of award, the work is to be structured so that the effectiveness of the teaching and learning content remains sharp and focused and is fully evaluated at every stage. There is scope here for producing teaching and learning papers and presentations to inform both the next stages in this development, and also to inform a much wider range of teaching and learning development.

Leadership and entrepreneurship opportunities in the curriculum: this is demanded by the nature and content of the programme. Students will be educated to be leaders and pioneers.

Skills development for future employment: the candidates are already in employment and their continued employment is dependent on their engagement and delivery of the work and other obligations and responsibilities as undergraduate students on this programme.

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

There have been recent reports that graduate recruitment will flatten off and apprenticeship recruitment will increase by 23 per cent. Reports from the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) agree. They are currently meeting large employers and finding significant interest in apprenticeships at all levels.

Government guidance states that there are currently around 1,000 degree apprenticeships. Government has made a pledge to increase the number of apprenticeships starts to 3 million by 2020 and to support this aim they are helping higher education providers develop and deliver degree apprenticeships. A degree apprenticeship is a real job where the employer invests in training and the employee receives a first degree during the course of the apprenticeship. Apprentices work for 30 hours a week. Learning fits around that work commitment and requires flexible learning modes like day or block release, distance or blended learning. Overall these programmes provide the opportunity for HEIs to open up to a much wider and newer audience and to introduce and instil HE’s values, attitudes and expertise to a whole cohort that would not otherwise be accessed. It also enables HEIs to develop new relationships and collaborations with organisations and companies.

With the expected introduction of the “Apprenticeship Levy” on all large employers in the near future, there is now a huge financial incentive for employers to engage with these programmes – potentially as alternatives to traditional models of Higher Education, in order to recover their mandatory contribution to the Apprenticeship Levy, with this funding only being eligible to spend on apprenticeship programmes approved under the new standards.

Degree Apprenticeships Toolkit

Higher apprenticeships refer to all apprenticeships which include the achievement of academic and vocational qualifications and learning from level 4 up to bachelor’s and master’s degrees at levels 6 and 7 respectively.

All levels can include vocational qualifications and academic qualifications. Degree Apprenticeships are the latest model to be developed as part of higher apprenticeship standards, seeing apprentices achieving a full bachelor’s or master’s degree as a core component of the apprenticeship. Degree apprenticeships combine both higher and vocational education and fully test both the wider occupational competence and academic learning, either:

using a fully-integrated degree co-designed by employers and HEIs, or
using a degree plus separate end-test of professional competence.

The figure below (adapted from the Skills Funding Agency fact sheet, June 2015) sets out how higher and degree apprenticeships link together.

Put another way, a Degree Apprenticeship involves an individual being awarded a bachelor’s or master’s degree as part of their Apprenticeship. An Apprenticeship where an individual achieves a foundation degree as part of their Apprenticeship is a Higher Apprenticeship not a Degree Apprenticeship. Degree Apprenticeships are not available at level 8.

In our Curriculum Development and Teaching Innovation Toolkit you’ll find just a sample of the range of resources available to support curriculum development and innovation in teaching engineering programmes, with links to some of the engineering education research centres. This is an area which is developing constantly so please do contribute links and resources to keep it up to date by starting a discussion or contacting us directly.

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Contents:

Placements Toolkits – Our two Placements Toolkits are the result of the research conducted to address the recommendations of the Perkins Review of Engineering Skills and the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Universe of Engineering Report about engineering student’s placements in companies.
Degree Apprenticeships Toolkit – In September 2015 the first university-business co-developed Degree Apprenticeship programmes were launched – having been designed and eligible for funding under the government’s new model for apprenticeship training (Apprenticeship Standards), and expected to be resourced via the so called “apprenticeship Levy”. Whilst still at a relatively small scale and early stage, as at March 2016, Apprenticeship Standards are ‘ready for delivery’ at the Degree Apprenticeship level in three discipline areas – two of which are engineering-related. A further seven are awaiting approval, five of which are engineering-related.
Engineering education centres and groups
Quality assurance and enhancement – A distinctive approach to quality is taken in Scotland- the Quality Enhancement Framework (QEF) which provides a means for institutions, academic staff, support staff and students to work together in enhancing the learning experience. The following link provides a useful portal of case studies in Scottish Universities on issues ranging from improving student experience through articulation through to postgraduate learning methods: http://www.enhancementthemes.ac.uk/institutional-plans/case-studies See also: our Accreditation & Quality Assurance Toolkit
Further resources

In our Curriculum Development and Teaching Innovation Toolkit you’ll find just a sample of the range of resources available to support curriculum development and innovation in teaching engineering programmes, with links to some of the engineering education research centres. This is an area which is developing constantly so please do contribute links and resources to keep it up to date by starting a discussion or contacting us directly.

A distinctive approach to quality is taken in Scotland- the Quality Enhancement Framework (QEF) which provides a means for institutions, academic staff, support staff and students to work together in enhancing the learning experience. The following link provides a useful portal of case studies in Scottish Universities on issues ranging from improving student experience through articulation through to postgraduate learning methods: http://www.enhancementthemes.ac.uk/institutional-plans/case-studies

In our Curriculum Development and Teaching Innovation Toolkit you’ll find just a sample of the range of resources available to support curriculum development and innovation in teaching engineering programmes, with links to some of the engineering education research centres. This is an area which is developing constantly so please do contribute links and resources to keep it up to date by starting a discussion or contacting us directly.

There’s a range of resources available on the Higher Education Academy’s website developed by the former Engineering Subject Centre.

HELM – Helping Engineers Learn Mathematics – was a major curriculum development project undertaken by a consortium of five English universities – Loughborough, Hull, Reading, Sunderland and Manchester. Its resources are available here.

The National HE STEM Programme was a three-year initiative funded by the Higher Education Funding Councils for England and Wales (HEFCE/HEFCW). It started in August 2009 and completed in July 2012. The Royal Academy of Engineering led the engineering strand of the programme. It supported the National HE STEM Programme through collaborations with HE institutions to encourage new approaches to recruiting students and delivering programmes of study in engineering. It enabled the transfer of good practice across the HE STEM sector, facilitating its wider adoption, and encouraged innovation, supporting those in particular with the potential to achieve long-term impact within the Higher Education sector. There’s a range of case studies available here.

European Journal of Engineering Education (EJEE): the Official Journal of SEFI. Published bi-monthly, the journal examines the economic, cultural, and social factors which influence the education of engineers in different societies and provides a forum in which teachers in engineering schools, institutions and industry can share accounts of good practice and discuss methodology.

Grant Campbell and Daniel Belton at the University of Huddersfield have published a useful paper about introducing a new engineering programme in a high cost subject at a time of constrained resources but high demand. The full paper is available here.

Degree Apprenticeships Toolkit

In September 2015 the first university-business co-developed Degree Apprenticeship programmes were launched – having been designed and eligible for funding under the government’s new model for apprenticeship training (Apprenticeship Standards), and expected to be resourced via the so called “apprenticeship Levy”. Whilst still at a relatively small scale and early stage, as at March 2016, Apprenticeship Standards are ‘ready for delivery’ at the Degree Apprenticeship level in three discipline areas – two of which are engineering-related. A further seven are awaiting approval, five of which are engineering-related.

Our two Placements Toolkits are the result of the research conducted to address the recommendations of the Perkins Review of Engineering Skills and the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Universe of Engineering Report about engineering student’s placements in companies.

Quality assurance & enhancement

In our Curriculum Development and Teaching Innovation Toolkit you’ll find just a sample of the range of resources available to support curriculum development and innovation in teaching engineering programmes, with links to some of the engineering education research centres. This is an area which is developing constantly so please do contribute links and resources to keep it up to date by starting a discussion or contacting us directly.

The University of Manchester’s Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences publishes a range of resources to support teaching innovation in an online collaborative space “created for staff …with an interest in enhancing their teaching, and an enthusiasm for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.”

Established in 2011, the University of Liverpool’s Centre for Engineering Education “researches, develops, shares and supports best teaching and learning practice, within the School of Engineering and nationally“.

Activities and Resources.

“The Aston Engineering Education Research Group is focused on developing the understanding that will enable colleagues across the sector to introduce innovative and relevant learning and teaching practice that addresses the needs of industry whilst engaging students in their learning.”

The group is made up of both engineering and social science academics and examines the whole ‘engineering education pipeline’ from primary school to the employment of engineers and their continued learning.

Current projects and activities.

The Centre for Engineering and Design Education (CEDE) is “funded to help the engineering and design Schools at Loughborough University by undertaking research or projects to improve the student learning experience and encourage effective and efficient practice and innovation in teaching“.

Current projects and activities.

Established in April 2015, UCL has brought together expertise from its Institute of Education with its Faculty of Engineering Sciences to form the UCL Centre for Engineering Education. The centre is “interested in not only supporting developments in primary and secondary education and but also how to create a better articulation between the vocational (FE and apprenticeship) and HE routes into engineering, as well as working with companies to address their changing skill needs“.

Forum and information.

Royal Academy of Engineering has a number of teaching resources available.

Additional links to engineering education research centres around the world.