An employers’ guide to:
Academic Professional Apprenticeship (Level 7) Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice Postgraduate Certificate in Research Practice
The Academic Professional Apprenticeship (APA) is designed to develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours of academic professionals working in a university or other scholarly institute engaged in higher education. The programme has been mapped to the APA Standard and designed to accommodate the professional development needs of the individual and institution.
There are two specialist pathways: The Academic Professional: Specialist Role in Teaching (PGCert Academic Practice) • Specialises in teaching and the support of student learning at undergraduate, postgraduate taught and research levels. • Supports participants in taking a leading role in the development of current learning and teaching practices, pedagogical and assessment methodologies. The Academic Professional: Specialist Role in Research (PGCert Research Practice) • Specialises in research activities and ways of investigating key challenges facing the world, or those of public or private funders and commissioners of research. • Develops academics to operate as principal investigators, identifying research opportunities, competing for external funding, managing research projects and budgets and creating research outputs. • Supports participants in taking a leading role in wider research management, oversight and deployment of research-related funding, collaboration with external organisations and dissemination of research outputs. Bucks New University is one of the first universities to offer this exciting flexible learning programme that can help support your organisation in creating excellence through learning and teaching. Academic professional apprentices learn how to apply the latest educational methods to empower and engage students across the whole student learning experience and can then specialise to take their teaching and learning expertise further, or pursue a research specialist route.
Qualification The Academic Professional Apprenticeship enables apprentices to specialise in either teaching or research. Those completing the programme will achieve the Academic Professional Apprenticeship (Level 7) and gain a Postgraduate Certificate. For those on the teaching specialist pathway, the programme also confers Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy.
Duration This Level 7 apprenticeship is a two-year programme. Apprenticeships are work-based. Training and assessment predominantly take place within the apprentice’s institution, with 20 per cent of their contracted hours dedicated to ‘off the job training’.
Course structure Stage 1 Developing Professional Knowledge Skills and Behaviours
Stage 2 Developing Professional Knowledge Skills and Behaviours
Specialist Role in Teaching or Specialist Role in Research Stage 3
End point assessment (EPA) Includes resits
Assessment
Working in Partnership
The programme’s assessment strategy has four purposes:
We work as partners, providing a key account manager and dedicated apprenticeship team to support the institution and employees throughout the apprenticeship journey.
• facilitation of a comprehensive and rigorous engagement with the standards core and specialist roles • summative assessment of on programme learning • determination of readiness for student apprentices to proceed to the EPA (i.e., it acts as the EPA Gateway) • provision of opportunities for the student apprentice to prepare and discuss their readiness for the EPA. That is, it has a formative role in preparing the student apprentice for the EPA. Accordingly, the types of assessment mirror those of the EPA requirements and include presentation/classroombased sessions, professional conversations and written submissions.
Tuition fees The apprenticeship levy will be paid by employers in any sector with a pay bill of more than £3 million per year. Those employers will be able to use their apprenticeship levy funds to access degree apprenticeships from higher education providers. Non-levy paying employers will receive up to 90 per cent funding towards the costs of apprenticeships. Higher and degree apprenticeships can be offered to anyone over the age of 19. There is no upper age limit and no cost to the apprentice. The training costs for employers may vary for individuals depending on their age. Apprenticeships can be open to current members of staff to support career development.
Who can apply? An apprentice can be a new or existing member of staff. They must be employed for a minimum of 30 hours per week and must have the right to live and work in the UK. All candidates must be employed in a role related to the subject matter of the apprenticeship and be sponsored by their employer.
Entry requirements Bucks New University will consider all applications and have the final decision whether to accept the candidate for entry to the programme, but typically minimum entry for Level 7 is a first degree and the candidate will have at least 12 months higher education experience. Apprentices without Level 2 English and Maths will need to provide evidence of achievement at this level prior to taking the end-point assessment. All candidates must be employed in a role within a university or other scholarly institute engaged in higher education and typically undertake research, teach and support learning at levels 4 to 8 in the Framework for HE Qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (FHEQ).
The apprentice’s link tutor will visit them in the workplace to support their learning. The University will provide a full range of study options to apprentices that meet their institution’s needs.
Your Commitment • Work in partnership with Bucks New University. • Work with Bucks New University to develop a programme tailored to the needs of your organisation. • Provide a suitable working environment and facilities to support higher apprenticeships. • Ring fence at least 20 per cent of an apprentice’s time for off-the-job training/academic learning.
Supporting you every step of the way • Help define your requirements and training needs, including how to get the most out of your levy. • Deliver apprenticeships that meet your needs and reduce the burden on your business. • Work together to develop your people’s skills and meet your long-term training goals.
LOCATIONS Buckingham
UNIVERSITY CAMPUS AYLESBURY VALE
AYLESBURY VALE
Aylesbury
MISSENDEN ABBEY
Great Missenden
WYCOMBE
CHILTERN Amersham
High Wycombe
SOUTH BUCKS Uxbridge
MIDDLESEX
HIGH WYCOMBE CAMPUS
UXBRIDGE CAMPUS
High Wycombe Campus Queen Alexandra Road High Wycombe Buckinghamshire, HP11 2JZ
BucksNewUni
University Campus Aylesbury Vale
BucksNewUni
Walton Street Aylesbury Buckinghamshire, HP21 7QG
BucksNewUni
Uxbridge Campus
@BucksNewUni
BucksNewUniversity bucks.ac.uk
106 Oxford Road Uxbridge Middlesex, UB8 1NA Missenden Abbey London Road Great Missenden Buckinghamshire, HP16 0BD Telephone: 01296 744 202
For more information visit:
Fax: 01494 524 392 International: +44 1494 605 259
bucks.ac.uk/apprenticeships
This information is accurate at the time of going to press. © Buckinghamshire New University 2018
07/18
Email: apprenticeships@bucks.ac.uk