Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers (RoATP) and Invitation to Tender (ITT) for Non Levy Paying Employers – In total we had 183 dial ins to the webinar programme we organised with HEFCE and 32 HEIs attended the briefing coupled with individual surgery sessions.  RoATP Presentation is available here and the ITT Presentation here.

Drawing on issues raised during the webinars, briefing and surgery sessions UVAC has produced a Q&A and this can be accessed here.

Recordings of the webinars will be available on the HEFCE website from Monday 21 November.

Register of Apprentice Assessment Organisations (RoAAO) – UVAC with SFA will be organising a webinar for HEIs needing to become or interested in becoming Apprenticeship Assessment Organisation. HEIs delivering integrated degree apprenticeships and/or higher apprenticeships will need to apply to RoAAO. Additionally, we are aware of several HEIs interested in delivering an end point assessment for Apprenticeships delivered by other training providers.

We are planning to hold the webinar in December and further details will be published on the UVAC website. Colleagues may also be interested in a support programme funded by the Education and Training Foundation (ETF) delivered by the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) to support organisations interested in entering this market. The AELP programme will focus on Apprenticeship at level 2 and 3 and Higher Apprenticeships but not feature aspects of the service for end point assessing Degree Apprenticeships.

UVAC is a partner in this programme and further details of now to get involved can be obtained by contacting Adrian Anderson [email protected].

Briefings on the Digital Apprenticeship Service (DAS) and the SFA Funding Rules are also planned.

Social Work Degree Apprenticeship – An Expression of Interest concerning the development of a Degree Apprenticeship in social work has been submitted to DfE.  UVAC has been asked by the consortium submitting the EoI to support the development of an HE Provider Reference Group. We will keep colleagues updated on developments in this area.  For further information please contact Adrian Anderson [email protected].

Survey on Degree Apprenticeships – Universities UK has been actively supporting university engagement with the delivery of degree apprenticeships in England and working with colleagues in Universities Scotland, Universities Wales and Northern Ireland on developments across the UK. In March of this year UUK produced the report The Future Growth of Degree Apprenticeships, which was successfully launched during National Apprenticeships Week. This report reinforced the importance and value of degree apprenticeships in England to policy makers but also highlighted barriers and challenges.

To enable UUK to continue to promote the value of degree apprenticeships and to push for policy changes and incentives they are intending to update and re-issue the report. To do this they need your help. UUK have issued a survey to inform this report which seeks information on planned numbers and subjects but also seeks your views on both motivators and barriers. UUK are keen to hear from all of its members in England, from the most active to those who have made a strategic decision not to engage with degree apprenticeships. The survey is available here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/5FT2DSD and the deadline for responses is 23 November.

The success of Universities UK in engaging with policy makers and helping to influence discussions has led to success in securing HEFCE development funding to support this project. UUK have also been successful in securing development funding for a project to support the higher education trailblazer consortium developing apprenticeship standards for the higher education workforce.

To help inform and communicate with members, UUK are also seeking help from all of its members across the UK to identify a point of contact within your institution on the provision of degree apprenticeships. These contacts will be used as an additional channel of communication alongside formal channels. Policy development in this area is rapidly evolving with often very short deadlines, and where possible UUK will seek to inform members of policy changes and developments as soon as they can.

Please send contact details, including position and email address to [email protected]