The role of universities in higher apprenticeship development

Abstract

PurposeTo date, few universities have been involved in the Government‐funded drive to expand higher apprenticeships across England. Universities have a track record of expertise and innovation in professional and work‐based learning that can significantly contribute to the higher‐level skills agenda and could have a pivotal role in the rapidly growing initiative to develop higher apprenticeship programmes. The purpose of this paper is to outline the potential contribution universities could make to higher apprenticeship and the potential barriers to university engagement.Design/methodology/approachThe paper provides an analysis of skills and higher education policy, initiatives and related research in England as the context for university involvement in higher apprenticeship. A case study is used to illustrate the benefits of and barriers to university involvement, including an uneven funding policy playing field for universities and misconceptions regarding professional competence and practice‐based higher‐level learning.FindingsThe paper illustrates the potential benefits university involvement in higher apprenticeship could deliver for employers and learners by supporting individual career progression and social mobility, and by providing employers and employees with clear and cost effective work‐based pathways to management roles. It concludes that the current barriers to university involvement may result in a missed opportunity to maximise value from public investment in the workforce development expertise of universities, redeployed to realise higher apprenticeship innovation.Originality/valueThe authors believe this paper is the only academic analysis of the value of and barriers to university involvement in the current Westminster Government flagship Higher Apprenticeship programme. The case study included has not featured in any other academic journal.

Why co-design and delivery is “a no brainer” for higher and degree apprenticeship policy

“…At the same time that higher-level 'workforce development' was dropped, the skills agenda focussed on apprenticeships, which were at the time not perceived to be particularly relevant to the provision of HE by most universities (Anderson et al, 2012). The result was a vacuum of policy incentives for universities to work collaboratively with employers beyond those relationships that had previously been established.…”

“…Given the concurrent exclusion of the skills agenda and apprenticeships from the 2011 HE White Paper (as discussed above), it is perhaps unsurprising that universities' seeming interest in the Higher Apprenticeship Fund was low. It has been argued (Anderson et al, 2012) that this should have been of concern to policy makers given the considerable expertise that a significant number of universities had demonstrated through HEFCE workforce development activity in collaboration with employers that could have been brought to bear to support the development of innovative models of Higher Apprenticeships. Anderson et al (2012) also argue that other issues were operating as a barrier to university engagement with the Higher Apprenticeship initiative.…”

“…It has been argued (Anderson et al, 2012) that this should have been of concern to policy makers given the considerable expertise that a significant number of universities had demonstrated through HEFCE workforce development activity in collaboration with employers that could have been brought to bear to support the development of innovative models of Higher Apprenticeships. Anderson et al (2012) also argue that other issues were operating as a barrier to university engagement with the Higher Apprenticeship initiative. While the Higher Apprenticeship Fund invited the development of innovative new models, significant aspects of the FE focussed system for approving and funding Apprenticeships discouraged university involvement.…”

The official discourse of fair access to higher education

“…For example, the £250 million UK government funding made available for the Employer Ownership of Skills (BIS, 2012) initiative could indicate a significant shift that positions employers as the decision makers regarding potential to benefit from higher-level learning. Likewise, the Price Waterhouse Coopers Higher Apprenticeship provides opportunities for school leavers to become higher apprentices and gain professionally recognised higher-level qualifications while in employment (see Anderson, Bravenboer and Hemsworth, 2012). This initiative is positioned as an alternative to graduate recruitment as a 'grow your own' scheme that bypasses universities entirely.…”

“…More recently, the growth of employer-sponsored higher education such as workforce development activity (see Bravenboer, 2011, andWilson, 2012) and higher apprenticeships (see Anderson, Bravenboer and Hemsworth, 2012) may come to creatively undermine the institutional autonomy of higher education…”