Degree Apprenticeships
Degree Apprenticeships
The Economy, Infrastructure
and Skills Committee agreed to undertake an inquiry into Degree
Apprenticeships.
Summary
Welsh
Government first funded degree apprenticeships from academic year 2018/19. It
has committed £20 million to a three year pilot, meaning recruitment has
continued in 2019/20 and should continue for 2020/21. In 2018/19 there were 155
degree apprentices from around 60 employers accessing the first year of degree
apprenticeships in Wales, and for 2019/20 the Higher Education Funding Council
for Wales (HEFCW) has allocated 585 funded new places. HEFCW also conducts
monitoring of the programme.
Degree
apprentices are enrolled onto a degree apprenticeship “frameworks” and there
are currently two frameworks – Digital, and Engineering and Advanced Manufacturing.
There are no public plans for more frameworks, and these priorities are
influenced by Regional Skills Partnership recommendations.
Terms of reference:
The
Committee explored, discussed and seeked information on the following aspects
of degree apprenticeships:
·
The rationale for degree apprenticeships
·
The process and criteria for approving proposals
from providers to deliver degree apprenticeships
·
Demand from employers and learners, both for the
current frameworks or any demand for additional frameworks, and how it is being
managed
·
The recruitment of degree apprentices and the
personal characteristics of the 2018/19 cohort and the 2019/20 cohort so far to
evaluate how they reflect groups under-represented in higher education and
wider Welsh Government equality ambitions, including gender balance
·
Employer engagement and the profile of employers
accessing the degree apprenticeship programme including, if possible, the
geographic spread
·
The degree apprenticeship funding model, the
overall funding level and the funding commitment needed to ‘teach-out’ the
three year pilot apprentices
·
Early views from employers, educational
providers and learners on how well degree apprenticeships are working and
lessons from their introduction
·
Views on Welsh Government’s overall approach to
degree apprenticeships, their rolling out, and their impact on, and
relationship with sub-degree apprentices
·
Views on the future direction and potential of
degree apprenticeships.
Business type: Committee Inquiry
Reason considered: Senedd Business;
Status: Complete
First published: 28/11/2019
Documents
- Committee Report: Degree Apprenticeships - November 2020 PDF 2 MB
- Welsh Government response PDF 450 KB
Consultations
- Degree Apprenticeships (completed)