Earlier in February, the University recognised degree apprentices, employers and local businesses, celebrating the value and opportunity that apprenticeships bring.
As part of National Apprenticeship Week, the Engineering and Apprenticeship teams held a round table with local employers to work together to discuss recruitment challenges and design an apprenticeship to develop highly skilled employees. Mark Puttock-Brown and Rodrigo Aviles from the School of Engineering led the discussion and a tour of their state-of-the-art facilities.
Degree apprenticeships are popular with students as they can gain a degree whilst working and earning a salary. Employers see the benefits as they allow them to fill skills gaps and develop their staff by using Government funding.
UK Government statistics show that higher level degree apprenticeships are continuing to grow, with 22,000 starts at level 6 and 7 last year. At Sussex, we are only in the second year of offering degree apprenticeships and we currently have students on Manufacturing Engineering, Data Science and AI and Business Analytics apprenticeships with the relevant Schools.
The University is scoping levels of interest and employer requirements for new apprenticeships in electrical engineering, business, marketing and new teaching areas.