The Impact of Apprenticeship Skills Coaches: A rationale for investigation
Publication date: 30 Sep 2024
Degree apprenticeships are already providing motivated and highly-skilled employees through their innovative approach to education and workforce development. Bridging the gap between academic learning and practical application in degree apprenticeships is vital and apprenticeship skills coaches (or those in equivalent roles) can play a crucial role in enabling apprentices to develop the required knowledge, skills and behaviours.
As degree apprenticeship provision continues to develop, higher education providers are likely to adopt diverse pedagogical methods and approaches to the implementation of roles such as apprenticeship skills coaches.
This project aims to examine the impact that apprenticeship skills coaches have on the apprentice experience and will also focus on higher education providers' approaches to the application of this role.
This, in turn, should inform the development of a more standardised pedagogical framework, based on the experiences of apprentices, and facilitate the creation of resources to assist providers in supporting the apprentice experience through the use of apprenticeship skills coaches.
Project approach
The project team will explore this topic by:
- Conducting a critical review of existing literature on the role of academic support tutors and apprenticeship skills coaches
- Conducting surveys, interviews and observations to gather data about the impact of apprenticeship skills coaches on degree apprenticeships.
Outputs
The project team produced a literature review examining current research into student engagement within degree apprenticeships. The investigation focuses on contemporary studies.
Planned outputs
- A toolkit that will include a set of case studies, reflective questions for degree apprenticeship providers to apply to their current models and actionable, best practice guidelines
- Presentations and workshops to share knowledge, enable further discussion and expand learning opportunities.
Project lead: University Centre Quayside
Project partners: Manchester Metropolitan University and Middlesex University
Other Collaborative Enhancement Projects
QAA supports a number of projects every year, covering a range of topics and interest areas. Each is led by a QAA Member, working in collaboration with other members institutions. You can find more information on all projects, and access resources and outputs, on our website.