2022 has begun and we are starting this year with a focus on apprenticeships, particularly on the work of Professor Darryll Bravenboer who was generous enough to pen an end of year review for our network that assesses the landscape of apprenticeships in the UK today.
For a link to this article on our website, please click here
The State of Play with Apprenticeships - 2022 Update
Professor Darryll Bravenboer, Middlesex University, December 2021
It’s an interesting time for higher education and apprenticeships with key policy changes that could significantly change the landscape and maybe even for the better. There are now 98,000 higher apprenticeships (level 4+) starts which is nearly a third of all starts and 39,200 of these are at level 6 and above. The challenges of Brexit and Covid have significantly dented university finances at a time when the sector awaits confirmation of how higher education will be funded following the recommendations from the Augar report. At the same time the Minister of State for HE and FE has “asked OfS to strongly encourage providers to set themselves ambitious, measurable targets to significantly increase the proportion of students on higher and degree apprenticeships”. As universities seek to diversify their income at a time of funding uncertainty, higher and degree apprenticeships increasingly represent core business for the sector.
Many of us that have developed work-based and work-integrated provision for the benefit of learners and employers over the years can celebrate this move from the periphery to the centre stage as finance directors seek to drive specific income targets for apprenticeships and to differing extents, recognise the need to resource developments. Yet before we celebrate too much, the sector has needed to collectively brace itself for the challenge of preparing for Ofsted Inspection now that all level 6 and 7 apprenticeships are firmly in scope. Cue fevered discussions with university quality departments debating “if Ofsted really is within their remit”, it’s enough to make you choke on your mince pie!
Yet in unexpected places good sense has emerged. The IfATE consultation in the summer on proposals to introduce a new model of degree apprenticeships, sought to: remove the unspoken barriers for developing degree apprenticeships where there is employer need; finally recognise that high quality requires the integration of on and off-the-job learning; fully aligns degree learning outcomes and apprenticeship knowledge, skills and behaviours; reinstates the integrated model as standard to remove the unhelpful distinction between degree and apprenticeship assessment; and makes clear (as is clear to all) that apprenticeship assessment requires occupational and industry expertise. Happily, the proposals have received overwhelming support from employers and providers alike, although there is many a slip between lip and cup as we await Ministerial approval to implement the new model next year.
Finally, credit where credit is due, the Skills for Jobs White Paper that started off the year by signposting the Lifelong Loan Entitlement (LLE), could bring about the most significant change in higher education funding since the introduction of tuition fees. If funded credit is used as a common currency to facilitate flexible access and portability of HE provision across and between providers of many types, then the institutional autonomy monopoly may be nearing its close. Afterall, if the over 100 HE providers who are on the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers have waived their institutional autonomy to agree to assess the prior learning of all apprentices, then why not do it for all learners? The 2021 versions of the QAA HE Credit Framework for England and the SEEC Credit Level Descriptors helpfully identified examples of how credit can be used and explicitly align our understanding of learning across traditional HE, apprenticeships and microcredentials, so the broad architecture is largely in place. While there is much to agree before the 2025 implementation date for the LLE, if higher education funding is to be based on credit, it opens the door to the kind of innovative provision that future learners will need and I have to say, is much more fun to develop.
Opportunities
University of Wales Trinity Saint David has an active WBL programme through is Wales Academic of Professional Practice and Applied Research. As such it runs RPEL opportunities for all University students overseen by a RPEL board. There is also a very healthy programme for accreditation of external courses for academic credit and these are overseen by the accreditation board. Both boards are looking for external examiners to review both procedure and outcomes of these boards. They meet termly and are happy to work on-line providing good administrative support to the EEs.
We provide a fee at the sector rate and would welcome our help in filling these vacancies.
For those interested, please send an email to a.fillery-travis@uwtsd.ac.uk
Upcoming Events
The UKCGE 5th International Conference on Developments in Doctoral Education & Training is due to take place online on the 5th & 8th April 2022. The focus of the conference is Promoting Positive Research Cultures. The call for papers asks for an abstract to be submitted by midnight on FRIDAY 28th JANUARY 2022.
Please click here for more information http://www.ukcge.ac.uk/events/icddet2022-187.aspx
Early Call for Papers
We'll be writing in more detail in the future but wish to send an early reminder to our network about submitting papers to the Work Based Learning e-Journal International's next edition.
Thank you for reading - please keep an eye out for news from us coming very soon - we have big plans for 2022, including a website refresh, new connections and an event.
Best,
Comments