Universities tip Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship to be UK's largest as CMI scoops Gold

10 March 2017 -

UK Universities praises the Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship

UK Universities (UUK), the representative organisation for the UK’s universities, has tipped the Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship to become the most subscribed of the new breed of degree-level apprenticeships to be created under the government’s Trailblazer scheme.

The UUK report suggests the new apprenticeship will represent 36% of all apprentice numbers by 2017-18, with a total of 2,778 expected by the end of 2018.

At least 60 universities and other higher education institutions across England are implementing or planning to implement degree apprenticeships in the next academic year (2017–18).

The report, Degree Apprenticeships: Realising Opportunities, states that: “The potential for degree apprenticeships to make a significant contribution to meeting employer skills needs and providing increased opportunities to young people is about to be realised.

“This is a really welcome report by Universities UK highlighting the emerging key benefits of the new degree apprenticeships,” says CMI’s Director of Strategy, Petra Wilton.

“Those universities who have been instrumental in developing these programmes, working with employers and the CMI, are already seeing clear benefits as early adopters. In particular, they cite closer links with employers, enhanced social mobility through widening and diversifying participation; and improvements in employability outcomes for HE provision.”

The report follows the announcement in this week’s Budget of another £500m for technical skills – a move that CMI welcomed while calling for new technical qualifications to be aligned with the new breed of Apprenticeships.

Read our CMI Budget round-up

The UUK report also follows prestigious industry recognition for CMI in claiming Gold at the App4England Awards, CMI’s first award for its work in the apprenticeship sector.

CMI was named in the ‘Support Organisation to the Apprenticeship Sector (Charity/Not-For-Profit)’ category at the App4England Awards.

The recognition comes just 16 months after the launch of Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship in November 2015. The trailblazer degree-level apprenticeship was developed by a group of more than 30 leading employers, including Serco, Nestle and Barclays, and supported by CMI.

CMI has also supported the development of other management apprenticeships to provide new pathways for employers to invest in their managers at all levels. This includes the introduction of the Team Leader and Operational Manager apprenticeships in June 2016, and the anticipated launch this summer of the Master’s level senior leaders apprenticeship.

Wilton says: “Winning this Gold Award at the App4England Awards is a great sign of how effectively CMI has worked in collaboration across the skills sector on this new apprenticeship agenda. In just 16 months, we’ve worked with a big group of employers and education institutions to launch a suite of trailblazer management apprenticeships that are changing how employers develop and upskill their management talent.

She pointed out that just 13% of employers are aware of the new degree apprenticeships, “so we’ll be using our win to help raise awareness of how investing Levy funds into management and leadership apprenticeships can develop the future talent needed to make UK’s business competitive.”

For more information visit apprenticeships.managers.org.uk and www.managers.org.uk/apprenticeshipweek