Matthew Fletcher National Apprenticeship Service/Skills Funding Agency 4 th April 2014

1. The Future of Higher Apprenticeships in England – Implications and Opportunities for Higher EducationDelivery of Existing Higher Apprenticeships, Targets and Opportunities for HEIs and Providers Matthew Fletcher National Apprenticeship Service/Skills Funding Agency 4th April 2014

2. What is the market? • Existing Frameworks • Targets • Opportunities

3. Composition of the Market Employer HEI/Providers Learner

4. Composition of the Market Employer Professional Bodies Learner HEI/Providers

5. Routes to market

6. Content • Existing Frameworks • Employers and Learner Participation • Richard Trailblazers • Universities UK • Professional Bodies • Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) • Summary

7. Existing Frameworks • Discrete by sector- Financial/Technical Specialist • Generic to business- Generic Business Support • Developed as progression to existing frameworks • Developed through specific initiatives – Higher • Apprenticeship Fund • Resource intensive • Entry to the market

8. Employers and Learners • Targets/Opportunities • Apprenticeship activity by employer size • Apprenticeship activity by sector • Apprenticeship activity by region • Apprenticeship activity by level

9. Richard Trailblazers • Phase 1 sectors • Aerospace; Automotive; Digital Industries; Electrotechnical; • Energy and Utilities; Financial Services; Food and Drink • Manufacturing; Life Science & Industrial Sciences. • Phase 2 sectors • ‘A to T’ including Accountancy, Law and Nursing • Assigning a level should come at the end of the • development process when the draft standard is submitted.

10. Universities UK • ‘Part-time and mature students are a great success story for UK higher education…We are talking about huge numbers- nearly half a million undergraduate students studying part-time in the UK in 2011-12…Yet something is wrong. Following a decade of slow decline, the numbers of students recruited to part-time courses since 2010-11 in England fell by 40% for undergraduate courses over two years: equivalent to 105,000 fewer students.’ • Professor Sir Eric Thomas ,The power of part-time : Review of part-time and mature higher education, Universities UK

11. The power of part-time • A powerhouse for skills: • Nearly half a million people in the UK studying part-time at • undergraduate level in 2011-12 • Vast majority – nine out of ten- aged between 21 and 65 • Most studying vocational courses and in continuous full-time • employment. • Sixty-two percent are female and thirty-eight percent are • male • Forty-five percent are parents with dependant children (in • England) • Fewer than one third received financial support from their • employer (in England)

12. The power of part-time • UUK found: • Many employers and potential students are not sufficiently • aware of the value of part-time higher education and do not • always fully understand the options, including financial • open to them • 2. Information is patchy for potential students trying to find out • about available courses and student finance information • 3. There is a lack of visibility of the part-time offer

13. The power of part-time • UUK found (cont’d): • 4. Opportunities exist for higher education providers to do more to attract and support part-time students, including through the development of more flexible learning approaches. • 5. Part-time study is highly vocational, yet there are opportunities for more employer-focused provision. • 6. There are opportunities for part-time study to be supported through Local Enterprise Partnerships in England

14. The power of part-time • R3. Universities and colleges should take bold steps to meet the needs of potential part-time students and improve the part-time experience. • Consider the student life cycle, methods of flexible learning including on-line delivery. • Consider how partnerships between higher education institutions and further education colleges can sustain and promote opportunities to study part-time.

15. The power of part-time • Higher education providers with the largest number of UK-domiciled part-time undergraduate students in absolute terms after the Open University: • Teeside University • Birkbeck, University of London • Coventry University • University of Central Lancashire • Staffordshire University • London South Bank University • The University of Hull • Anglia Ruskin University • Edge Hill University

16. The power of part-time • What are they studying? • Strong bias towards vocational subjects. Most popular are subjects allied to medicine; business and administration; and education. • The majority of part-time students are aiming for professional qualifications and higher education certificates and credits.

17. The power of part-time • Trends • Decline in female students exacerbated the longer-term drop in student numbers. • Female students over-represented in sectors under particular pressure (education, health, public administration) • Biggest fall in entrants is among those in their thirties. • National decrease in entrants between 2011-12 and 2012-13 felt more strongly in the north of England than the south ranging from -59% in the North East to -12% in the East of England. Similar to the decrease in the full-time applications. • Reasons for regional changes important as part-time students not as mobile as full-time students.

18. The power of part-time • R4. Employer-focused part-time higher education which meets the needs of the local economy should be boosted. • ..work in partnership with employers to develop more flexible and innovative approaches to meeting the needs of part-time students…need to step up longer-term partnership arrangements with employers, while at the same time employers need to get better at articulating skills needs. • UUK will work with UKCES to highlight innovative ways of working with employers.. • UUK urges its members to work with Local Enterprise Partnerships to raise awareness and access to part-time higher education study, supporting the local growth and skills agenda

19. The power of part-time • R4. Employer-focused part-time higher education which meets the needs of the local economy should be boosted. • The University of Warwick – SEFDEY • Durham University – KPMG/ICAEW • CBI – Tomorrow’s growth: New routes to higher skills

20. Professional Bodies • Highly relevant and an integral partner to Apprenticeship development and delivery • Profile significantly raised through Richard Review • Apprenticeships as a route to professional qualification • PARN survey made up of 37 professional bodies • Almost 3 million individual professionals represented by the survey respondents • PARN estimates that there are approximately 13.3 million professionals in the UK • Higher Apprenticeships and Professional Bodies A report for the National Apprenticeship Service by Christina Williams & William Hanson 2011 • Professional Associations Research Network

21. Professional Bodies • Survey findings: • 49% of respondents were aware of Apprenticeships in their sector • Only 27% of respondents have members qualified through this route • 70% thought a Higher Apprenticeship would be an appropriate way to gain full professional status in their sector • 73% indicated their interest in Higher Apprenticeships (38% being very interested) • 70% interested in embedding Higher Apprenticeships in routes to entry for their profession

22. Local Enterprise Partnerships • Partnerships between businesses and local authorities to drive economic growth and create jobs. • The 39 LEPs each develop a: • Local Growth Plan • Skills Strategy • Apprenticeship Action Plan

23. Local Enterprise Partnerships • Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP • Developed a three pronged local development strategy based around the top level objectives: • Business, People and Place • Selected five priority growth sectors to set the pace and build capacity to grow employment and the economy. • Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering • ICT • Cultural Buzz • Life Sciences • Environmental Technologies • A further six sectors have been identified where there is a continuing skills demand.

24. Local Enterprise Partnerships • Hertfordshire LEP • Priority 1 - Maintaining our global excellence in science and technology • Priority 2 - Harnessing our relationships with London • (and elsewhere) • Priority 3 - Re-invigorating our places for the 21st Century

25. Local Enterprise Partnerships • Five key domains of activity • satellites and commercial applications of space; • • life sciences, genomics and synthetic biology; • • regenerative medicine ; • • agri-science; and • • the big data revolution and energy-efficient computing. • Four growth sectors • • film and media; • • sport, leisure and cultural activities, and tourism more generally; • • financial and business services; and • • high-end logistics.

26. Summary Employer Professional Bodies Learner HEI/Providers

27. Summary Employer Sector Themes Funding Professional Bodies LEPs Economic Drivers Learner HEI/Providers