Government pledges £10m to promote Degree Apprenticeships

24 March 2016 -

Business secretary Sajid Javid said degree apprenticeships have the ability to ‘unlock life-changing opportunities’ and ‘give businesses the skills they need’

Matt Scott

Degree apprenticeships are set to receive £10m in additional funding under plans announced today by business secretary Sajid Javid.

The funds, which will be distributed over the course of the next two years, will provide £4m a year to universities looking to design and develop degree apprenticeships.

A further £1m annually will be used to promote degree apprenticeships among students.

Speaking at Manchester Metropolitan University after meeting degree apprentices, Javid said: “We launched degree apprenticeships to unlock life changing opportunities for young people and give businesses the skills they need.

“This multi-million pound fund will help universities and employers design new top quality degree apprenticeships and open doors to our young people.”

Training the next generation of managers

The Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship is one of the new degree apprenticeship schemes already available, with Manchester Metropolitan University, among others, also planning to deliver the scheme from September 2016.

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CMI director of external affairs Petra Wilton said: “Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeships are expected to account for half of all degree apprenticeships. The government’s planned investment will be a huge boon for supporting this new route into professional management. Investment in the next generation of managers has been shown to be more than repaid by the productivity gains they deliver.

“According to CMI’s research, just 13% of parents are aware of degree apprenticeships, but four in five think they offer a better route to work than traditional degrees. The government’s plans for additional funding to promote degree apprenticeships will be vital for increasing the number of Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeships being offered by employers.”

Apprenticeships are growing in popularity

A CMI survey of survey of 1,003 parents revealed a change in attitudes towards apprenticeships, with 61% of parents favouring a Degree Apprenticeship with a major company such as M&S or Rolls-Royce over a traditional degree from Oxford or Cambridge.

And provisional figures released yesterday show a dramatic increase in the number of people starting higher apprenticeships; more than 30,000 people were enrolled on higher apprenticeships between August 2015 and January 2016.

Research from Universities UK published last week as part of National Apprenticeship Week also found degree apprentices are also growing in number, with an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 starts for 2016 across forty universities.

Find out more about the Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeships at: www.managers.org.uk/degreeapprenticeships