Who can do a Degree Apprenticeship?

Last updated 09 Jan 2020

Degree Apprenticeships are the latest addition to the Higher Apprenticeship programme: applicants should usually be those who have taken A-levels or done an Advanced Apprenticeship.

Those who undertake a Degree Apprenticeship will recieve a full bachelor’s or master’s degree (Levels 6 and 7) as a core component of the apprenticeship. Because of this, the application requirements can be as high as a standard university application.

If you've got your sights set on a degree but would like some integrated, hands-on experience to go with it, a Degree Apprenticeship could be your option.

Here are some examples of Degree Apprenticeship requirements that we’ve taken from real-life job postings:

IT Degree Apprenticeship

A minimum of seven GCSEs at grades A*-C, or equivalent, including maths and English.

Three A-levels (actual or expected) at grade C or above (240 UCAS points), or equivalent (e.g. a National BTEC with at least one distinction). These may include an IT-related subject (e.g. IT, Maths or Science).

As an alternative to A-levels you may have completed an Advanced Apprenticeship in IT. These results may be actual or expected at the time that you apply.

Aerospace Engineering Degree Apprenticeship

240 UCAS points or above at A-level standard, with at least two in STEM based subjects such as physics, ICT, computing, math and electronics.

Note: UCAS points awarded for AS Levels are not counted.

Five GCSEs at Grade A-C including maths, English Language and double science or equivalent qualification.

Degree Apprenticeships: What can I study?

There are currently 13 sectors which are involved in the Degree Apprenticeship Programme, and with 40 universities pledging to start Degree Apprenticeships in 2016, you'll be spoiled for choice!

Another advantage of a Degree Apprenticeship is the working relationships that apprentices forge with their employees and colleagues, developing the so-called ‘soft skills’ – effective teamwork, communications, negotiating skills, ability to work under pressure, problem-solving – that employers so desperately want in young recruits.

Degree Apprenticeships offer the highest academic attainment – bachelor’s or master’s degrees – without the associated student debt, as well as workplace experience that will set apprentices apart from their peers on standard degree courses.

As with other apprenticeships, the cost of course fees are shared between government and employers, meaning that the apprentice can earn a full bachelors or even masters degree without paying any fees.

Degree Apprentices split their time between university study and the workplace and will be employed throughout – gaining a full bachelor’s or master’s degree while earning a wage and getting real on-the-job experience in their chosen profession.

Degree Apprenticeships are especially useful as they are designed with the industry’s needs in mind. Groups of businesses, universities and colleges develop practical, vocational degree courses that allow students to build up skills and experience relevant to that particular industry, making them very employable in the future.

Not only do they offer the chance to achieve a degree without the burden of debt (employers pay tuition fees, while government pays for training) but those completing Degree Apprenticeships are especially employable, as each programme has been designed with the industry’s needs in mind.

Trailblazers – the previously mentioned groups of businesses, universities and colleges – develop bespoke degree courses that allow students to build up skills and experience relevant to that particular industry, making them very employable in the future. Degree apprentices will often be offered a job with their employer at the end of the programme, but even if that is not the case – or if they decide to move on – graduates of these programmes will have a very attractive, specific set of skills and qualifications with which to progress in their chosen industry.

The Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) did research with 174 organisations last year about the quality of candidates coming straight out of university, from standard university degree courses. The chief executive of the AGR, Stephen Isherwood, said at the time that employers reported a lack of people skills and a "fundamental understanding" of the world of work, as well as lacking "the ability to work with people and get things done when things go wrong".

The skills that standard graduates often lack, despite their academic credentials, are ones that are developed during the workplace element of a Degree Apprenticeship, so the young people completing these programmes are armed with a desirable, and quite rare, skills set alongside their university qualification.

So, another advantage of a Degree Apprenticeship – and why they can be so competitive when it comes to applications – is the working relationships apprentices forge with their employees and colleagues, developing the so-called ‘soft skills’ – effective teamwork, communications, negotiating skills, ability to work under pressure, problem-solving – that employers so desperately want in young recruits.

These are often what people say standard graduates are missing, despite their academic credentials, so a Degree Apprenticeship can arm you with a desirable, and quite rare, skills set alongside a university qualification.