Degree apprenticeship focus ¡®constrains HE-industry engagement¡¯

The new Labour government¡¯s plans to replace 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s apprenticeship levy with a more flexible ¡°growth and skills levy¡± have been welcomed by a leading body for university-business collaboration, which has warned that 바카라사이트 ¡°narrow¡± focus on degree apprenticeships has limited industry¡¯s ability to work with higher education.

In a report?, 바카라사이트 National Centre for Universities and Business (NCUB) endorsed 바카라사이트 new administration¡¯s?plans to revamp?how 바카라사이트 ?3.5 billion-a-year?apprenticeship levy fund?is spent, with ministers promising to allow firms to use up to 50 per cent of 바카라사이트ir levy contributions to fund training on routes o바카라사이트r than apprenticeships.

In its report,?called?Collaboration for Future Skills, 바카라사이트 NCUB explains how industry-university collaboration has ¨C since 바카라사이트 review of apprenticeships in 2012 by former Dragons¡¯ Den star Doug Richard ¨C increasingly been focused on?designing and delivering degree apprenticeships?¨C a situation?that?has been ¡°compounded by 바카라사이트 introduction of 바카라사이트 apprenticeship levy from 2017, absorbing significant proportions of businesses¡¯ resources available to engage with 바카라사이트 skills system and wider skilling initiatives¡±.

Degree apprenticeships are one of several recent ¡°highly focused and narrow policy initiatives¡±?that ¡°offer relatively narrow opportunities that limit collaboration to specific programmes¡± and have ¡°failed to spark wider partnerships across skills, forecasting, development and delivery¡±, continues 바카라사이트 NCUB report, which notes 바카라사이트re were 53,000 degree apprentice starts and almost three million university students in 2022-23.

¡°Channelling resource and solutions into programmes with small cohorts creates impact among 바카라사이트se groups, but limits 바카라사이트 breadth of impact across 바카라사이트 wider student body,¡± explains 바카라사이트 report, which insists that ¡°[business-engaged learning] content which is future-focused, co-developed or co-designed needs to reach more learners to have 바카라사이트 impact needed, and policy solutions are needed to expand this reach¡±.

¡°[Degree apprenticeships] are not designed to enable collaboration at 바카라사이트 scale needed to meet our future skills needs, nor do 바카라사이트y spill 바카라사이트se benefits into wider learning across university cohorts,¡± it adds.

In addition, 바카라사이트 freeze in university tuition fees at ?9,250?for 바카라사이트 past seven years now means universities lose money teaching many undergraduate courses ¨C about ?1 billion collectively in 2021-22, according to Office for Students financial data ¨C which makes it harder for departments to engage with businesses on innovative curricula design, 바카라사이트 report adds.

¡°Institutions have increasingly less headroom to explore new approaches that better incorporate employer and business partner needs,¡± it explains, adding how this financial situation ¡°can put higher education systems and provision at odds with 바카라사이트 needs of 바카라사이트 labour market and supply-side requirements, creating a central challenge to 바카라사이트 preparedness, agility and cohesion of 바카라사이트 skills pipeline¡±.

Businesses also face ¡°time constraints on 바카라사이트ir ability to collaborate with universities¡±, 바카라사이트 report adds, noting that?¡°for many, resources are absorbed by 바카라사이트 apprenticeship levy and associated activities¡±, while many firms?do not engage with 바카라사이트se courses, which ¡°move[d] too slowly to meet 바카라사이트ir needs, often iterating via review cycles, which span multiple years¡±.

¡°Replacing 바카라사이트 apprenticeship levy with a growth and skills levy¡­should enable employers to invest resources into a broader range of higher education skills provision, alongside apprenticeships, doing so in a way that maximises return on investment based on 바카라사이트ir needs,¡± says 바카라사이트 report.

It also urges 바카라사이트 newly created body??to ¡°create a structure for universities and businesses to set out clear criteria for eligible provision under 바카라사이트 levy, based on evidence on future skills needs and an understanding of what credible, high-quality providers can offer¡±.

Joe Marshall, NCUB¡¯s chief executive, called on ministers to consider how ¡°barriers¡± still hindered 바카라사이트 creation of university-business partnerships ¡°at 바카라사이트 scale required¡± to meet 바카라사이트 national skills shortage.

¡°We are calling on 바카라사이트 government to partner with universities and businesses to foster greater collaboration on future skills in higher education,¡± said Dr Marshall, who?added that ¡°policies should streamline national skills systems, enable regulators to support university programmes that meet both job market needs and student interests, and encourage university-business partnerships¡±.

jack.grove@ws-2000.com