Uni and business partnerships preparing workforce for the future

The UK government set out in 2015 to create three million apprenticeships by 2020, to deliver on its vision to grow a knowledge-led economy. To this end, an apprenticeship levy of 0.5 per cent was introduced in 2017, which was applied to all businesses with payrolls in excess of 3 million pounds. By 2017, the levy had raised 2.7 billion pounds to fund apprenticeships in Britain.

Most UK apprenticeships were still of the traditional kind, involving a combination of vocational training and employment. However, take-up of these traditional vocational apprenticeships declined by 18 per cent (or 165,000) between 2017 and 2019. Over the same period, demand for the new degree apprenticeships rose from a few hundred to over 13,500. By 2021, over half of the 164 universities in Britain were offering degree apprenticeship programs.

“Young people are recognising the advantages offered by degree apprenticeships … over traditional vocational apprenticeships.”

Importantly, the UK Office of Students found in 2019 that 25 per cent of students undertaking degree apprenticeships would not have otherwise gone to university due to financial concerns.

The lesson is clear from the UK: increasingly, young people are recognising the advantages offered by degree apprenticeships, in terms of status, salaries and future-proofing, over traditional vocational apprenticeships.

Outcomes from the Australian government’s Jobs and Skills Summit in September include commitments to create thousands of New Energy Apprenticeships and Digital Traineeships. The UK experience points to growing demand for degree apprenticeships alongside more traditional vocational traineeships.

The Cyber Academy, a partnership between Deloitte, University of Wollongong, TAFE NSW, and Swinburne University, offers a UK-style degree apprenticeships in cybersecurity. Starting in 2023, the Cyber Academy will have hundreds of students sponsored by industry and government employers to undertake a three-year course of study whilst also getting on- the-job training.

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Degree apprenticeships offer a way for employers to build workforce pipelines in areas where there are critical skills shortages and intense competition for talent. For employers, it is a very good investment. It also increases diversity in the future workforce by improving opportunities for university study for students from equity backgrounds.

The success of the degree apprenticeship in Britain offers a model for Australia to address the skills shortage and develop the high-skilled workforce for future economic growth.