Degree Apprenticeships can’t be allowed to become elitist - Daniel Lally

Technical education has long struggled with its reputation in this country. Launched in 2016, higher and degree apprenticeships were billed as an alternative route to a degree and one without the traditional associated costs.

Apprentices are employed and learn on the job, completing study blocks at university and it’s all paid for by the employer and the government through the Apprenticeship Levy. The apprentice receives a degree at the end and usually a guaranteed job.

It was hoped they would be attractive to those from lower income backgrounds who faced barriers, including financial barriers, to applying to university. But the Sutton Trust’s report suggests that higher-level apprenticeships are less accessible than the traditional university route for those from disadvantaged families. The report found only five per cent of those starting a degree apprenticeship in 2020-21 were from lower income homes, compared with 6.7 per cent of those going to university to study an undergraduate degree.

One striking quote from the report is that ‘more prosperous areas have benefited disproportionately from the expansion of degree apprenticeships’ and that those from low-income backgrounds ‘are less able to access the most financially rewarding apprenticeships’.

Whilst this report examines the national picture, my experience at my own university, Sheffield Hallam, could not be in more stark contrast.

Of the 2,000 plus apprentices currently on courses at Sheffield Hallam, almost half (45 per cent) are from the most disadvantaged backgrounds.

Anecdotally, a lot of our apprentices are first in their family to go to university and tell us they would not have accessed higher education if it was not for the Degree Apprenticeship programme.

There is also a higher proportion of mature learners upskilling or retraining – an option that may not have been open to them without the apprenticeship route.

As a university offering one of the widest portfolios of degree apprenticeships in the country, we have long championed parity of esteem for apprenticeships with a traditional university degree.

However, I am conscious that we need to be careful what we wish for. We are now quickly finding ourselves in a position where degree apprenticeships are a sought-after commodity and, as in many different work and education situations, where that exists it is likely that those with more social capital are more likely to maximise opportunities.

To have reached a point where young people are vying for degree apprenticeship shows just how far they’ve come in terms of their prestige and awareness among young people.

But we need employers, policy makers and apprenticeship providers across the country to ensure degree apprenticeships are an accessible option for people from all backgrounds.

Higher and degree apprenticeships are a modern qualification that work for employers, employees and society. They were not envisaged to be elitist or the reserve of those with more social capital, they are for everyone, and it's imperative they remain that way.

Daniel Lally is director of Business Engagement, Skills and Employability at Sheffield Hallam University.