Enhancing the Apprentice Experience: A Practical Guide
The growth of higher and degree apprenticeships in England is presenting exciting opportunities for the higher education sector. Programmes that allow learners to earn while they work, in addition to gaining valuable employability skills and industry insights, has the potential to open up access to higher education for a wide range of people and, consequently, enrich universities.
Yet, in order for these programmes to be successful and for delivery to grow, it’s essential that apprentices have a high-quality experience. This can be challenging for university training providers, as there is a fine balance to be struck between the institution itself, the apprentice and the employer. Apprentices are unlikely to have the ‘typical’ student experience of university as they spend less time on campus than students on a 3-year undergraduate degree programme. This, in turn, can have a potentially negative effect on their sense of belonging.
While teaching provision is a crucial tenet of the apprentice experience, it’s also important to consider everything else, from apprentices’ experience of campus and facilities, extra-curricular and social activities, to careers and wellbeing support.
In this article, we explore a series of considerations universities can make to ensure that they are delivering an enhanced apprentice experience that can match or rival the typical student experience.
Comprehensive Induction and Signposting
As apprentices split their time between on- and off-the-job training, they are likely to spend significantly less time on campus than their student peers. As a result, they may not be as aware or engaged with information on what support is available to them from their training provider.
To mitigate this, it’s crucial that universities providing degree apprenticeships deliver an appropriate level of signposting to services and support.
This begins with a comprehensive induction programme, which would include the following elements:
Clear explanation and signposting of campus facilities and buildings available for apprentices to use, including their functions and directions
Direction to learning support, such library services and study skills support, whether online or in person – this will be particularly relevant for apprentices who may need support with English and Maths
Information and guidance on how apprentices can request adjustments to enhance their studies and access services such as disability support
An introduction to the Students’ Union (SU) and the kind of extra-curricular activities and support they offer, as well as trade unions and the kind of support and protection they can provide
Indication of how success and achievement will be celebrated on the programme, such as the National Apprenticeship Awards, sector-specific awards or any institutional awards
Guidance on how the careers and employability team can further support apprentices in developing their employability skills or special interest groups throughout the university that can provide networking opportunities for apprentices
Any relevant financial information, such as guidance on issues such as Council Tax, eligibility for financial support and student discount guidance
Providing resources that contain all relevant information and FAQs, such as an apprentice handbook, that can be referred to in the future – for a great example, see the University of Suffolk’s guidebook and their information webpage, ‘Life as an apprentice’
However, direction to facilities, activities and services that can support a good apprentice experience shouldn’t stop at induction. It’s crucial to have frequent points throughout the apprentice journey where apprentices are reminded and referred to these aspects of student life. For example, workplace mentors, line managers and academic staff should be trained to direct students to these services and facilities at regular intervals.
By ensuring apprentices are well aware of what support and services are available to them, you can encourage them to become more involved in university life and, as a result, cultivate a strong sense of belonging and an enhanced overall experience.
Celebrating Success
It’s no secret that celebrating achievements is a fantastic way to make apprentices feel like valued members of the community, as well as creating an incentive for apprentice performance. While workplaces may provide these opportunities to celebrate successes, it’s also important that apprentices’ work in the academic environment is equally valued.
If you don’t already have your own apprenticeship award scheme set up, the good news is that there are plenty of great examples from across the sector to learn from, such as the University of Kent and the University of Sunderland.
Some key considerations for delivering an apprenticeship awards scheme could include:
How will you promote the awards and ensure they reach a wide audience? This could include creating social media assets and hashtags that apprentices and employers alike can use to announce nominations or achievements.
What incentives can you provide for apprentices to get involved? You might promote the award as an opportunity for apprentices to build their CV, for example.
How will you celebrate the achievements of apprentices after the event? For example, you might put together a blog post with pictures and testimonials from the day.
Running an awards scheme also enables you to celebrate employer partners who are delivering excellent apprenticeships, helping to fortify those relationships – which, in turn, can also enhance the apprentice experience.
Custom Support Interventions
It’s one thing to signpost apprentices to existing support services within your university, but what kind of apprentice-specific support can you provide to ensure they feel valued and catered for?
A few ideas to get you started might include:
Offering tailored, apprentice-specific careers and employability events and interventions. This could include fairs or employer events designed for apprentices, or one-on-one and group ‘clinics’ with careers consultants for apprentices. See, for example, Sheffield Hallam University’s Higher and Degree Apprenticeship Recruitment Fair.
Opportunities to develop study skills that will support them in their apprenticeship. As apprentices may have lower confidence in their study skills than other students, it’s worth considering running workshops and courses that are exclusive to apprentices.
As apprentices split their time between the employer and the training provider, can you arrange on-campus events so that they can familiarise themselves with the space and feel like part of the community? For example, the University of Exeter offer their apprentices a residential period on campus that allows them to get a bit of the student experience.
With apprentices being pulled in multiple directions, it’s always worth thinking about how you can make the experience of moving between on- and off-the-job training more seamless, with a support network that can help apprentices if things go wrong. This is crucial to ensuring apprentices have an excellent experience of university and of their apprenticeship. The Open University, for instance, has a dedicated Apprenticeship and Enrolment Support Team (AEST) that offer support and advice throughout the whole apprentice journey.
When support is custom tailored to apprentices’ needs and abilities, universities can provide effective support that makes their apprentice experience stand out against other providers.
Incentives for Social and Extra-Curricular Activities
As they spend limited time on campus and are often more time poor than their student peers, it can be challenging for apprentices to get involved in those all-important extra-curricular activities, which are a certified enhancement of the learning experience. So, in order to encourage apprentices to participate, it’s worth thinking about how your university can offer incentives and make these opportunities accessible for apprentices.
Sheffield Hallam University nicely brings together apprentice recognition with incentive to get involved in extra-curricular activities through their Hallam Award. Open to students and apprentices alike, the award is a personal development programme that encourages participants to make the most of their time at the university by recognising contribution to community activities. The university also makes clear to apprentices that many of the attributes the award recognises align with the behavioural development aspect of Apprenticeship Standards.
Meanwhile, the University of Suffolk also has a series of apprentice network and special interest groups that encourages apprentices to get involved with extra-curricular activities on campus whilst also bolstering their employability and supporting them to develop skills. This includes institution-specific groups such as student-staff liaison committees and national bodies such as the Young Apprentice Ambassador Network or the National Society of Apprentices.
Crucially, in these examples, the opportunities to get involved in extra-curricular activities allows apprentices to build on and develop skills that are relevant to their programme and future employment. When designing incentives and extra-curricular activities, it’s worth keeping in mind how you can keep them relevant for apprentices and build them to suit their specific needs.
The Future of Higher and Degree Apprenticeships
As higher and degree apprenticeship delivery continues to grow throughout the sector, a keen eye should be kept on the apprentice experience and how it can be enhanced. As apprenticeships become a more attractive offering for school-leavers in particular, universities hoping to stay competitive in their recruitment campaigns will need to prove how they can offer an experience that is equally as supportive and engaging as the offering for undergraduate students.
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