Degree apprenticeships in England: transforming engineering education

This paper will summarise some of the findings from an Engineering Doctoral project, spanning three years. The research is about degree apprenticeships in England, specifically the ones in civil engineering at Level 6. The new Apprenticeship Standards were approved in 2017, with the first wave of civil engineering Degree Apprentices emerging in 2020. The paper will seek to understand how learner approaches to the apprenticeship have changed within a year and draw out any improvements that will support new ways of working with specific reference to Covid. The research adopted an established methodology, gathering qualitative data from two questionnaires taken a year apart. Software analyses was undertaken to uncover any underlying constructs between the questionnaires. The research will lead tripartite contributors to evaluate and consider how to support apprenticeships. This research will be added to early body of works for degree apprenticeships and will present practical examples of interventions that could be used by contributors to lead to successful outcomes.