Higher and degree apprenticeships
Information for learners
Looking to enhance your skills through a higher or degree apprenticeship?
Discover our range of apprenticeships, the benefits of studying an apprenticeship, how to make a strong case to your employer, and how to apply.
What is a higher or degree apprenticeship?
Higher and degree apprenticeships combine work-based learning and classroom study. You have the opportunity to obtain a higher qualification (typically a full undergraduate degree or Master’s) and learn professional skills.
Apprenticeships are a partnership arrangement between employers and employees, where both sides gain. Apprentices benefit from increased skills and enhanced employability, while employers gain from greater productivity and improved competitiveness.
If you are interested in studying a higher or degree apprenticeship with us, you need to be employed (working at least 30 hours a week).
You won’t have to pay any student fees, like you would for a traditional degree, as these are covered by the Government and your employer using the Apprenticeship Levy scheme.
Higher apprenticeships are all apprenticeships from Levels 4-7 and take between 1 and 4 years to complete. These include the achievement of a qualification eg HND (Level 5), Foundation Degree (Levels 4 & 5) or a professional qualification.
Degree apprenticeships provide the opportunity to gain a full Bachelor’s Degree (Level 6) or Master’s (Level 7) and take between 3 and 6 years to complete.
You’ll spend at least 6 working hours each week carrying out ‘off-the-job training’ where you’ll study for your degree and gain the knowledge, skills and behaviours that are required to successfully complete the apprenticeship.
Why consider an apprenticeship?
UoG offers higher and degree apprenticeships across a range of subject areas including business, computing, education and health & social care. You’ll benefit from teaching staff who are industry experts and state-of-the-art facilities.
Continue earning a living and get paid leave from your employer while you study.
Avoid paying tuition fees while you gain a nationally recognised qualification.
Gain confidence, experience and real-world skills in your chosen career.
Benefit from support from both your employer and University teaching staff.
We are currently working with employers to recruit apprentices for some of our programmes. If you are interested in apprenticeships in:
Vascular Science – please email vascularscienceapprenticeship@glos.ac.uk
Ophthalmic Imaging – please email ophthalmicimagingapprenticeship@glos.ac.uk
Cyber Security – please email GCL@glos.ac.uk
Facilities Management – please email FMTP@glos.ac.uk
Subject areas
View a range of higher and degree apprenticeships by subject area.
Apprenticeship requirements
If you are interested in studying a higher or degree apprenticeship with us, you need to be employed (working at least 30 hours a week).
You cannot apply for a degree apprenticeship directly, so your first step is to speak to your employer and make them aware of why an apprenticeship is a worthwhile investment.
Maths and English qualifications
In order to study a Degree Apprenticeship programme, learners need to have evidence of English and Maths qualifications – each apprenticeship standard has specific requirements.
Typically learners need evidence of level 2 English and Maths – this is an apprenticeship requirement not just a University requirement. Where these have not been achieved at the start of an apprenticeship, they must be completed by the time the learner reaches their end point assessment in order to be able to complete their apprenticeship.
The University has subcontracted the teaching and assessment of these qualifications to Adult Education in Gloucestershire. They have been selected to provide these courses on behalf of the University because of their expertise and experience in delivering successful outcomes for adult learners. The location of the training provider also allows better geographical access to support our apprentices to achieve these Level 2 qualifications.
Top tips for making the case to your employer
1. Do your research
First, check you are eligible for your chosen apprenticeship – you need to demonstrate that it will enable you to gain substantive new skills.
The next step is to find out if your organisation has any guidelines relating to training and development. For larger organisations, these are usually available from the HR department or can be found in your employee handbook. You should find out if there is a formal process in place for requesting training and, if so, you should follow this.
Next, find out if your employer has budget set aside for apprenticeships. Since April 2017 employers with a pay bill of more than £3m are required to pay a monthly levy to fund apprenticeships. If you work for a large organisation you may be able to tap into this.
Even smaller organisations (with a pay bill of less than £3m) can utilise the levy fund towards 95% of apprenticeship costs.
Browse our course pages to see which one(s) you are interested in applying for. Part-time options are available for many of our courses – the options are listed on individual course pages, and you apply directly to us.
Once you’ve found a course, check there are places available for your chosen year of entry.
2. Demonstrate return on investment
As with any investment decision, your employer will want to know how they’ll benefit, so you need to clearly present these facts when making your case.
A key point to emphasise is that higher apprenticeships are proven to have a positive impact on productivity. According to the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS), an average person completing an apprenticeship increases productivity by £214 per week. This in turn leads to greater competitivity – the NAS says that 77% of employers believe that apprenticeships make them more competitive.
However, it is also important to think about how a higher apprenticeship would specifically benefit your role and your employer. Find out what is included in the apprenticeship you’re interested in and think of examples of how your learning would be relevant to your role, and how it would directly benefit your business in terms of improved quality, innovation and efficiency.
Be prepared to talk about how the apprenticeship would help you become a better leader and how it would keep you up to date with the current challenges and trends affecting your work. For example, our higher and degree apprenticeships provide access to industry opinion leaders, which presents a huge opportunity for your business.
Overall, you need to demonstrate that taking a higher or degree apprenticeship will help your organisation grow.
3. Explain why you want to study at UoG
We have years of experience of delivering high quality, work-based learning programmes.
Our higher and degree apprenticeships build upon tried and tested approaches that get the very best results, so both you and your employer can be confident in their quality.
We understand that no two businesses or learners are the same and we have the agility to respond to different needs, so apprentices get the best out of their learning, and employers get the best out of their apprentices. This means that our apprenticeships really are a win-win.
4. Direct your employer to get in touch
Direct your employer to our higher and degree apprenticeships webpage, which provides an overview for employers (as well as the key facts for learners).
Encourage them to contact our team to find out more detail about the apprenticeships we offer, so they can discover the benefits for their organisation.
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