News | Thursday, 22nd February 2024
The future of Degree Apprenticeships
Director of Apprenticeships, Liz Gorb MBE, shares her thoughts on the future of apprenticeships, and degree apprenticeships at Manchester Met.
This year, Manchester Met is celebrating its 200th anniversary. As part of our celebrations, we’re showcasing our successes and the incredible work we’re doing to build a better future for all.
We sat down with Liz Gorb, Director of Apprenticeships at Manchester Met, the UK’s top university provider of degree apprenticeships (RateMyApprenticeship Awards 2019-23), to discuss how apprenticeships offer innovative paths into Higher Education, and the impact they have had for our business partners.
Liz has been heading up the Apprenticeships Unit at Manchester Met since its inception in 2015. As a pioneer of degree apprenticeships, Manchester Met is often cited as an example of excellence, with Liz’s knowledge and insights highly sought after by apprenticeships providers from the UK and overseas.
What is the landscape for apprenticeships in 2024?
Degree apprenticeships in the UK offer an exciting alternative to traditional university pathways, allowing people to gain higher level industry skills and experience, in a meaningful way.
If we look at the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), they are predicting that the number of higher education applicants will soar to at least a million by 2026, highlighting the very real need for investment and change in the UK’s higher education systems, with apprenticeships being a vital part of this step change.
In Autumn 2023, UCAS expanded their services to ensure that young people could see more personalised education options, with plans in 2024 for students to be able to apply for apprenticeships alongside applying for traditional degrees, so they are better able to decide which route is most suitable for their learning style, and individual circumstances. This is a radical move by the service, to put technical and vocational education on an equal footing with traditional academic routes.
With growing demand for more flexible and lifelong learning, we know that more employers are choosing to grow their apprenticeship schemes and they are investing in tools to help new and existing apprentices thrive. One of our SME partner organisations, RedEye, who provide sophisticated marketing automation solutions, now have 10 apprentices in learning at Manchester Met. Their apprentices are studying across a variety of programmes including Digital and Technology Solutions, Digital Marketer and Digital User Experience, making up 10 per cent of RedEye’s total workforce in 2023. Apprenticeships are a vital tool for business growth in the UK, allowing organisations to both upskill their current workforce, and diversify their talent – plugging vital skills and knowledge gaps. Digital skills proved the biggest skills shortage in 2023, with a study from Gallup and Amazon in 2023 finding that 72 per cent of businesses have digital skills vacancies, but only 11 per cent of workers have the advanced digital skills required to fill the gap.
As we enter 2024, the landscape for apprenticeships could see some political changes, but I am reassured that all parties are committed to apprenticeships, and the benefits they bring to improving the life chances of individuals, as well as the economic benefit they offer to many organisations. From research we have just conducted in 2024 we know that degree apprenticeships are a powerful vehicle for social mobility, with 44 per cent of Manchester Met degree apprentices being the first generation in their family to go to university. The proportion of our apprenticeship from disadvantaged backgrounds has increased steadily overtime, with 38 per cent of all Manchester Met apprentices being from the most deprived areas (IMD 1-4). There is considerable evidence to confirm the benefits that apprenticeships present – such as raising aspirations, continued education, enhanced career earnings, and richer, more fulfilled working lives. Whilst I recognise and am pleased to see the market for higher level apprenticeships growing, it is important that there is support in place so that apprentices from level two, all the way up to level seven, can realise the full opportunity ladder that apprenticeships provide. This is really important to us as a University, as we’ve seen first-hand the impact that apprenticeships have on the lives of students from all backgrounds. It’s also important for SMEs, who are a substantial part of the employer landscape for apprenticeships, and who can benefit most from the skills and knowledge that apprenticeships bring to their organisations.
What can we expect from apprenticeships at Manchester Met in 2024?
In 2024, Manchester Metropolitan University will be celebrating an impressive milestone, our 200-year anniversary. Our University can trace its routes back to 7 April 1824, when Manchester Mechanics’ Institution was established, which was initially built with the aim to deliver the skills and knowledge that powers industry. Our bicentenary will be an opportunity to celebrate our achievements and to look forward with confidence, ambition, and excitement. Throughout the year the University will showcase success stories around five core missions, which include: economic growth, transforming health, championing creative excellence, leading sustainability, and tackling inequalities. As part of our celebrations, I will be sharing my thoughts on how apprenticeships have been supporting the University’s ambitions over the past nine years, as well as looking at our plans for the future of apprenticeships at Manchester Met.
2023 was another fantastic year for degree apprenticeships at Manchester Met. Last year we won awards, including retaining our position as University of the Year at the Multicultural Apprenticeship Awards, celebrated the impact of our apprentices’ final year projects on organisations across the country, and continued to grow our apprenticeships provision adding two new programmes to our portfolio. We now deliver eighteen industry relevant programmes, with over 600 employer partners, and have seen over 5,000 apprentice starts at Manchester Met. Our apprentices have continued to succeed well above the national average with 83 per cent achievement rates, compared to the national undergraduate average of 64 per cent, reported by the Department of Education in 2021.
In 2024, our journey remains focused on delivering quality and impact. We will continue to build on our Ofsted Outstanding rating and hope to be voted the leading university provider of apprenticeships by our own apprentices, for the sixth year in a row. We will also continue to work with policy makers, including IFATE and the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for apprenticeships, to ensure that the wonderful opportunities that our provision provides, continue to grow in the run up to the next election and beyond. We are also continuing to evidence the impact our apprenticeships and will publish our next report, Force for Impact, in Spring 2024 which will reveal the career and productivity impact of our apprentice graduates.
