Degree Apprenticeship launched at Manchester Metropolitan University

Will give employers in the UK a new route to top tech talent

 

This week Manchester Metropolitan University officially launched its Degree Apprenticeship programme with the Tech Partnership.
 
Degree Apprenticeships were announced by Skills Minister Ed Vaizey at the Tech Partnership’s launch in November 2014, as a new government and industry-backed initiative providing digital qualifications and skills for a wide range of digital jobs. The Degree Apprenticeships will allow young people to complete a full honours degree alongside their employment. They will not pay student fees, and will earn a wage throughout.
 
Dr Robin Johnson, from Manchester Metropolitan University, said: "We're proud to be leading the North West provision and collaborating with the Tech Partnership. MMU boasts an array of skills and knowledge that can be brought together to help develop students' talents and we believe the Degree Apprenticeships will be attractive to apprentices and employers alike.
 
"There has been immense interest in the apprenticeships as a way to access university, learn on-the-job skills and as a vital boost the UK’s growing digital economy, which this scheme has been developed to help address."
 
"Developing the Degree Apprenticeship in Technology Solutions is addressing a real need for companies both large and small to acquire the IT and digital skills they need for the future," said Gordon Kent, Head of Emerging Talent for Lloyds Banking Group IT and Chairman of the Tech Partnership’s Employer Steering Group.
 
"Degree Apprenticeships will give employers in the UK a new route to excellent talent. This development clearly demonstrates that when employers come together and collaborate among themselves and with universities the results are phenomenal. I am confident the way the Tech Partnership is working with MMU will benefit Lloyds Banking Group and many other employers in the North West."
 
A number of employers involved in the Tech Partnership, a group of firms working together to create the skills and jobs the digital industry needs, have already committed to offering Degree Apprenticeships. These include Accenture, BT, Capgemini, CGI, Ford, Fujitsu, GlaxoSmithKline, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), Hewlett Packard, IBM, John Lewis, Lloyds Banking Group, Network Rail and Tata Consulting Services.
 
Universities including Aston, Exeter, Greenwich, Loughborough, Manchester Metropolitan, University College London, University West England and Winchester will be supporting the courses and are working with employers to offer these degrees.
 
Pictured above - from left to right: Claire Findlay (Barclays), Bob Clift (Tech Partnership), Phil Wheater (Dean of Faculty of Science and Engineering), Rod Humphreys (Dean of Faculty of Business and Law), Gordon Kent (Lloyds Banking Group), Howard Simms (Apadmi), Emily Hemlin (Apprentice Pannone Slater Gordon), and Liz Gorb (Work Based Learning Fellow).
 
Find out more about the programme and how to get involved at www.thetechpartnership.com/degreeapprenticeships