Glasgow Kelvin College this week became the first standalone FE college to welcome graduate apprentices, as a new kind of apprenticeship programme continues to grow across Scotland.
Inverness College UHI and college-university partnerships already offer training for graduate-level apprenticeships (GLAs), which combine practical experience with degree-level study.
At an event bringing together employers and other guests, Glasgow Kelvin College this week welcomed its first student cohort, which will be studying civil engineering as day-release learners on a two-year programme.
Colleges offer a significant proportion of Scotland’s higher education, most of it through HND and HNC courses, many of which then allow students to articulate into the second or third year of a university programme. They also offer a large percentage of all apprenticeship training, ranging from foundation apprenticeships for school-aged learners to modern apprenticeships at all levels, and now GLAs.
After a pilot of 27 apprenticeship places last year, this year the national rollout of the new scheme begins. Skills Development Scotland (SDS), the body responsible for apprenticeship delivery, says a total of 379 places will be made available.
SDS has been developing graduate-level apprenticeships with support from the European Social Fund, working with industry representatives, colleges and universities since 2015. According to SDS, it has focused on highly-skilled sectors that have been identified as requiring a new approach to education and skills development.
‘No guarantee of improved prospects’
But the apprenticeship schemes aren’t without their critics. Last November, the International Education Symposium at City of Glasgow College heard that graduate-level apprenticeships provided no guarantee of improved prospects for young people from poorer backgrounds.
Conor Ryan, the Sutton Trust’s research, policy and communications director, said: “It is all very well getting young people to consider these options, but if the supply is not there to meet the demand you are creating, there will be real problems.”
Apprenticeship options remained too limited, he said, and opportunities to progress into work after graduate-level apprenticeship had to be ensured as the programme grew.
But Mr Ryan said that economic modelling by the trust showed that lifetime earnings for graduate-level apprenticeship and students on the majority of university degrees were broadly similar. He concluded: “There is a real potential to apprenticeships in terms of social mobility if we get it right.”
Diane Greenlees, head of foundation and graduate-level apprenticeships at SDS, said: “SDS has developed graduate-level apprenticeships as a way for individuals to develop the necessary knowledge, skills and competence required by Scottish industries.
“Because they have been developed with employers, graduate-level apprenticeships ensure that learners gain the necessary knowledge and skills required for their chosen area of work.”
