- Vice-Chancellor calls for ‘modular apprenticeships’ to develop bespoke programmes, custom-made for business needs
- One in three (32%) business leaders want apprenticeships with greater flexibility
- New approach would put employers in control, as well as addressing existing concerns about content and adaptability
Today Peter Horrocks, Vice-Chancellor of The Open University, will call for a relaxation of the tight rules governing the way employers spend the apprenticeship levy.
In a speech to the Institute of Directors in London, he will say that the future needs of the economy would be best served by a more agile approach, where employers can buy in learning ‘modules’ to develop apprenticeships tailor-made for their organisation and employees, rather than be tied to rigid centrally agreed standards.
Modular apprenticeships would bring flexibility
Vice-Chancellor, Peter Horrocks
The introduction of ‘modular apprenticeships’, in addition to existing core-subject apprenticeships, would continue to support the UK Government’s objective of developing three million apprenticeships by 2020, but would also offer organisations more flexibility.
Mr Horrocks’ speech comes as new market research, commissioned by The Open University1, reveals one in three (32%) employers want greater flexibility in the content of apprenticeships. This would help them fill skills shortages specific to their organisation.
Mr Horrocks will announce that the OU is willing to develop a specialist offering for degree-level apprenticeships. This would be based on the popular ‘Open Degrees,’ in which students choose modules from a variety of different courses to build a qualification to suit their individual requirements.
Employers in control
A flexible apprenticeship means businesses can build the qualification they need
One in four (24%) business leaders support this flexible approach. It would put employers in control, allowing them to add learning modules to ‘core’ apprenticeship options, based on existing standards.
Not only would this help develop bespoke apprenticeships, ensuring employers of all sizes have access to the skills they need, it would also allow employers to add new modules throughout training. This would keep skills up-to-date and relevant, and allow apprenticeships to adapt as business needs change.
Mr Horrocks will say: “This has an obvious attraction. The idea has flexibility at its core. And more importantly there are precedents, more radical ones, pioneered by The Open University itself. One in five of the undergraduate degrees we award are now Open Degrees. It’s worth dwelling on what a similar model might be able to offer. What then if the same model was provided by employers themselves?
Imagine a world where employers could build their own apprenticeship programmes. Imagine the possibilities that would emerge when you could tailor-make a course to suit your staff from a set of Institute for Apprentices-approved modules.
“Employers could pick modules relevant to the specific knowledge required, and combine these with those connected to the soft skills their organisation lacks, add modules built around skills their employees need and add any digital skills on top. All of these could combine to form a personalised apprenticeship – a tailor-made course suiting the specific needs of employers and employees alike.”
Addressing needs of SMEs and large employers
In his speech, Mr Horrocks will also highlight that many employers, particularly SMEs, are concerned that apprenticeship standards have been developed with large organisations, without consideration of the needs of smaller employers:
SMEs have long been concerned that standards largely designed around the demands of large employers do not fully meet their needs. The apprenticeship system has only added to that anxiety. Small companies need training that aids their ability to be durable, fast moving and flexible. They simply cannot afford to be trapped in a programme that ties them into patterns that have the opposite effect.
Meanwhile, many large organisations see the system as inflexible and difficult to adapt to their particular requirements, which can vary by sector and between workers. This is particularly true of experienced workers, who have strong occupational knowledge but need to update their existing skills, to include the latest digital expertise, for example.
More flexible system must be regulated
These issues have resulted in a groundswell of opinion backing a loosening of the rules on the use of the levy. This comes from business organisations ranging from the Federation of Small Businesses and British Chambers of Commerce to the Institute of Directors and the Confederation of British Industry.
Mr Horrocks will say it would be important to ensure a more flexible system continued to meet core standards and be properly regulated to ensure quality by the Institute for Apprenticeships.
1 The Open University commissioned PCP market research to undertake a study of 750 business leaders with senior management responsibilities between 1 and 9 March 2018.
Find out more
Apprenticeships at The Open University
Read Peter Horrocks’ speech in full
