The First International Conference on Delivery and Policy of Degree and Higher Apprenticeships is taking place at the University’s Stoke-on-Trent campus on Thursday 22 June.
The conference will be the first inclusive gathering of key players from the UK and overseas and features speakers from Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), Institute for Apprentices and Technical Education (IfATE), the Quality Assurance Agency for HE (QAA), Universities UK (UUK), MillionPlus, University Vocational Awards Council (UVAC), Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) and Federation of Awarding Bodies (FAB).
Early findings from the QAA collaborative project on pedagogies in Degree Apprenticeships, the first large-scale study on this subject, will also be shared with conference delegates.
The event is hosted by Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Raheel Nawaz, who has helped launch Degree Apprenticeships across three continents and was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship for his ground breaking work.
Writing in the Times Higher Education earlier this year, Professor Nawaz predicted that degree apprenticeships would become “the most significant higher education inventions of the 21st century”.
He said: “This is largely because, unlike traditional degrees and typical vocational qualifications, degree apprenticeships explicitly incorporate not only knowledge and skills but also work behaviours. Equally importantly, degree apprenticeship standards and curricula are co-created by scholars and employers, ensuring both academic and business relevance.”
However Professor Nawaz, who led on a systematic review of published research on the impacts of degree apprenticeships, insists that future policy must be driven by robust evidence and common goals.
He added: “This conference is an opportunity to hear from regulators, awarding bodies, providers, employers and apprentices about what is working and what needs to change in order for us to achieve competitive edge in innovation, growth and human development.”
As well as a session on international perspectives on apprenticeships, including senior leaders from York University in Canada and Otago Polytechnic in New Zealand, attendees will also hear from employers and apprentices, from companies such as AJ Bell and Lloyds Banking Group, who are benefiting from the “earn while you learn” progression pathway.
For full conference programme and registration, visit the website.