Degree apprenticeships are the key to addressing the skills crisis – but the opportunities are being missed
Technology has never been more embedded in our lives. The sudden arrival of COVID-19 two years ago kickstarted a global digital transformation that saw industries across the world pivot to a digital-first approach like never before.
From retail and banking to hospitality and healthcare, the inability to be physically present meant an influx of technology that required expertise to operate.
For many organisations across the UK, this massive shift in how we work has made initial concerns about digital skills an urgent need.
This has collided with a complete shift in expectations for the world of education and work. Evidently, it’s more critical than ever that education and employment options are flexible and equipped for modern demands.
Degree apprenticeships may be just the solution.
Provided by top universities and employers, they enable learners to continue working and earning money while they enhance their practical knowledge and learn a new skillset. Additionally, they are available in key digital disciplines, from cyber security to digital user experience and digital technology.
Over the years, much has been made of their potential to improve social mobility too. Degree apprenticeships represent a much more accessible route to higher education. They have no associated debt and can offer those from disadvantaged backgrounds a quicker route to higher earnings.
Yet, despite all these benefits, repeated commitments from Government to invest in degree apprenticeships over the last seven years, and initial rapid growth, uptake just hasn’t gone far enough.
Between 2018 and 2020, uptake of degree apprenticeships has only increased by 3.2%. And as it stands, not enough young people are taking them. In 2020/21, there were 14 times more degree apprenticeships taken up by over 25s than under 19s. Evidently, there is still much more to be done and much of this comes down to awareness of the opportunities on offer.
Worrying misconceptions about entry requirements for a career in tech
In fact, research by QA in 2021 showed that 60% of 16-24-year-olds believe you need a university degree to start a career in technology. This lack of awareness about the realities of a career in tech extends to an understanding of the earning potential too with the same research revealing that only 10% of 16–24-year-olds believe it would be possible to go on to earn high salaries in tech.
These are dramatic misconceptions given the current reality in 2022, where more employers are committing to hiring apprentices, and apprentices can expect a starting salary of c. £30,000. Even those in apprenticeships believe that better awareness, information, and support prior to even beginning an apprenticeship would have seen more of their peers consider it as an option.
This lack of awareness is completely alarming because these opportunities do exist.
At QA, we’ve seen a host of young and talented apprentices thrive by pursuing a degree apprenticeship.
Roberta and Rosie are just two examples:
Roberta is an IT Compliance Officer for the Financial Times who wasn’t enjoying her subject choices of chemistry and maths, nor the academic environment she found herself in. However, she knew she wanted to pursue a career in tech. Reluctant to go back to college, her mother suggested she consider an apprenticeship. From a junior apprenticeship in IT Systems & Networking, Roberta has gone on to achieve a recognised degree through a Degree Apprenticeship. She has held three positions at the FT since she joined, demonstrating the potential for both employment and educational achievements that workplace learning can offer. “I haven’t looked back”, says Roberta. “Right from the start I felt empowered by the responsibility. This was the real difference for me between [college] and an apprenticeship.”
Rosie is another wonderful example of the power of degree apprenticeships. She pursued computing at school, motivated by the jibes of her peers that computing wasn’t for girls, and then went on to become Cisco’s youngest employee globally at age 17. By the time she was 19, she had achieved a degree completely debt free and believes that the biggest benefit of her apprenticeship was always learning and building a professional network.
As we push to recover from the pandemic, greater visibility and access would help address the digital skills crisis while simultaneously supporting social mobility, enabling those facing barriers to higher education achieve a degree without the associate debt. But currently, as research from the Sutton trust points out, they are barely having this intended impact.
National Apprenticeship Week is the perfect moment to address this head on.
Already we’re seeing a drumbeat of awareness on the opportunities apprenticeships can bring across a multitude of industries. However, the unique benefits of a degree apprenticeship still need to be clearer. A combined approach from business, education and Government on better advocacy and outreach is the only answer.
The Government must continue to champion the provision of degree apprenticeships and closing the gap between the world of education and work. For businesses, it’s a continued commitment to changing their mindset and strategic workforce planning to make provisions for the inclusion of degree apprentices within hiring strategies.
Finally, education providers are uniquely positioned to ensure young people are made aware of all the choices available to them based on their needs. By pushing for all of this, we can address the ever-widening skills gap head on.
Responses