An employer's guide
Learn how degree apprenticeships can boost the strength of your business and workforce
What is a degree apprenticeship?
Degree apprenticeships are an inexpensive way for your organisation to attract and retain talented employees, develop your workforce, fill skills gaps and improve your company's performance. They're suitable for all sizes of organisation, from small businesses to multinational corporations.
On a degree apprenticeship, apprentices come to university to learn skills they can apply straightaway in their jobs. When they complete their apprenticeship, they'll have a full Bachelor’s or Master’s degree. They'll study 1 day each week or fortnight on day release or do block release, which involves an intensive 4-day week, 3 times a year. They'll have access to our virtual learning environment, so they can study independently.
How can degree apprenticeships help your business?
Find out what degree apprenticeships can offer you
Degree apprenticeships can help you attract and retain talented employees, develop your workforce, fill skills gaps and improve your company's performance at low cost.
Are you an employer that pays the apprenticeship levy and are you getting the most from it?
The apprenticeship levy covers the full costs of the training and the employer pays the apprentices salary.
The apprentice has to be released for 20 per cent of their time so usually one day a week at the University and then four days a week in the work place.
Recruiting an apprentice gives you access to motivated, loyal individuals, with 71 per cent of apprentices staying with the employer they did their apprenticeship with. It gives you access to a much wider talent pool.
We can help you get there. We can help with job descriptions, shortlisting and interviewing, giving you everything that you need to make sure that you're ready.
Degree apprenticeships are not just about attracting new talent, they can work for your own staff too.
They can fill skills gaps, further develop your team and improve your organisations performance.
I think there are a lot of benefits of hiring an apprenticeships into any business. It's really allowed us to access a new group of people to bring into the business to help them learn their skills but also to help us be more effective when we're working with young people.
At the University of Portsmouth, we offer level 6 undergraduate and level 7 postgraduate degree apprenticeships. These include Civil Engineering, MBA Senior Leadership, Business Management and Architecture. We're always looking to develop more degree apprenticeships which work with you. We work with a number of big employers. These include the multinational companies and small medium enterprises.
I hope that's given you food for thought. If you'd like to know more about our growing portfolio of degree apprenticeships, contact us today.
Why partner with us?
We have strong relationships with business and industry through research programmes, innovation and knowledge transfer partnerships, undergraduate job placements and graduate employment schemes. This means we can develop Bachelor's and Master's degree apprenticeships that meet the needs of your business and your workforce. We can also help you recruit talent and fill skills gaps by putting you in touch with talented people who want to do a degree apprenticeship.
The course content and tasks have been an excellent fit with our business requirements and needs.
Nic has applied course content to strategy analysis and development very effectively and productively. He is leading the strategic planning activity of our Sensors Division this year, an activity normally led at Director or VP level. Leadership and communication skills are being abundantly demonstrated.
The course has been an excellent fit to business needs and Nic is applying it very well.
Funding degree apprenticeships
Degree apprenticeships are an affordable way to develop your staff because they’re funded by your apprenticeship levy account or heavily subsidised by the Government.
Levy-paying organisations
If your organisation has an annual pay bill of more than £3 million, you can use your apprenticeship levy funding to pay for Degree or Master's apprenticeships.
Organisations that don't pay the levy
If your organisation doesn’t pay the apprenticeship levy because its annual pay bill is less than £3 million, the Government subsidises up to 95% of the cost of degree apprenticeships. If your business has fewer than 50 employees, the Government pays 100% of the cost if, at the start of the apprenticeship, the degree apprentice is:
- aged 16-18
- aged 19-24 and has a local authority education, health and care plan (EHC plan)
When a degree apprentice is aged 16-18 or is aged 19-24 with an EHC plan, both the employer and training provider will get an extra incentive payment of £1,000 each to support the apprentice in their studies.
Other costs
There may be some minor costs not covered by Government funding. These costs vary depending on which degree apprenticeship programme your employees do. We'll help you understand what these costs are before you set up a degree apprenticeship programme with us.
Degree apprentice salaries
Most degree apprenticeship salaries start at £12,000–£18,000 a year. This is set by the employer, but apprentices must earn the minimum wage. Existing employees usually stay on their current salaries when they do a degree apprenticeship.
Within a short period of time, Georgina has gained a lot of confidence and is corresponding with people at the highest level.
Degree apprenticeship requirements
To offer degree apprenticeships, you'll need to provide your degree apprentices with a formal contract of employment and pay them a salary that's at least the same as the minimum wage.
Apprentices must spend at least 20% of their contracted hours learning, away from their normal day-to-day work environment. This also applies in periods when they won't be attending university, such as during the summer break.
To be eligible for a degree apprenticeship, apprentices need to have lived in the EU for three years at the start of their apprenticeship. They must also have the right to work in the UK and must meet the University's entry requirements.
We'll carry out an initial assessment with apprentices to ensure they meet the level of English and maths required to complete the degree. We offer extra support to apprentices with learning difficulties, such as dyslexia, and all apprentices get access to the same personal and academic support services as full-time university students.
Enquire about degree apprenticeships
If you're interested in supporting an employee on a degree apprenticeship, call us on +44 (0)23 9284 3865 to discuss how we can work together. Once you've confirmed that you're willing to support your employee in their studies, we'll ask them to complete an application form so we can fully assess their academic and professional suitability for the course.
Other ways to train your workforce
Work based degrees for employers
Get commercial value for your business by developing staff and increasing their motivation through work-based learning with us.
CPD and short courses
Support your staff in their continuing professional development through our CPD and short courses developed by researchers and industry experts.
Bespoke training for organisations
Work with us to develop custom-made CPD training courses for your employees, based around the needs of your organisation.
