Warwick to create 100 new apprenticeship positions

The University of Warwick will create around 100 new degree apprenticeship places each year from 2018 onwards, following new funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).

Confirmed by Education Secretary Justine Greening, the University of Warwick has been awarded a quarter of a million pounds from the HEFCE’s new Degree Apprenticeships Development Fund.

It will use this money to form a half a million pound package to focus on new degree apprenticeships, such as in Civil Engineering and Social Work sectors, which will make up next year’s 80 places. The University is looking to increase this number to 100 in 2019 and 120 in 2020.

The aim for generating these apprenticeships at Warwick, according to Vice-Chancellor Professor Stuart Croft, is to bridge the ‘skills gaps’. He stated: “The UK has the second lowest productivity of all the G7 countries and skills gaps are seen as one of the major contributors to this issue”.

He added: “Universities such as Warwick have a long history of direct engagement in both their local and national economies. We are delighted once again to be at the forefront of a programme that deliver new opportunities for our young people which will also target local skills gaps, and will help drive economic growth in our region and the country as a whole.”

The new degree apprenticeships will be in addition to the 400 apprenticeships already taking place at the Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) at the University of Warwick.

The University is actively exploring the possibility of creating more degree apprenticeship programmes in the future, with four technology based areas currently under consideration.