ARU is one of the UK’s leading providers of degree apprenticeships and in the top 10% HE providers in the country for skills and enterprise. Over 500 regional and national employers have chosen to partner with ARU on apprenticeships for our collaborative approach to working.
We offer a comprehensive range of degree level courses that are designed to fulfil your workforce needs whilst providing exciting career development opportunities for your apprentices.
We will attract and develop high calibre apprentices who will bring talent, skills, energy and diversity to your organisation as well as; developing and retaining your existing staff.
Why partner with ARU?
If you have any questions or would like to discuss any aspect of degree apprenticeships, then our dedicated Degrees at Work team are here to help. Get in touch today at degreesatwork@aru.ac.uk.
Driven by employer demand, we offer Degree Apprenticeships in Management and Leadership; Digital Technology and Data Science; Health; the Built Environment; Public Services and more.
Explore our Degree ApprenticeshipsDegree apprenticeships offer participating employers a wide range of advantages. The benefits to employers engaging with degree apprenticeships are extensive. For example, your organisation can:
Our dedicated Degrees at Work team will be on hand to help and advise you throughout the entire process. Our apprenticeship experts will help you decide if degree apprenticeships are right for your business, get you started and provide ongoing support throughout the life of the apprenticeship.
An approach to ‘up‑skilling’ that benefits the employer and the employee.
The degree apprentice is an employee who also studies part-time with our university. He or she can be an existing team member, or a new recruit of any age and at any point in their career. So, your organisation will gain a highly-skilled graduate with high level academic qualifications, up-to-the minute skills and an intimate working knowledge of your business and culture.
Sponsoring a degree apprentice will help you to fill the skills gaps in your workforce and to develop your existing talent through relevant degree courses – all with the aid of the Government’s Apprenticeship Levy funding arrangements.
Effective recruitment, talent retention, boosting staff morale, planning individual career developments, the enhancement of technical prowess – these are just some of the benefits you can expect from these transformational programmes.
In May 2017 the Government changed the funding structure for apprenticeships in England.
If you operate in England and your annual payroll is over £3 million, you pay a levy of 0.5% of your payroll into a Digital Account.
To reclaim this money, you must use it specifically for apprenticeship programmes.
Employers get their money back – and more
The Government will top up the employer’s account with a 10% bonus, so effectively you will draw £1.10 for every £1.00 you put in.
If your organisation is not required to pay the levy, you will only pay 5% of the cost of the apprenticeship programme while the government pays the remaining 95%. Some very small organisations may be eligible for 100% of the cost to be funded by the government.
From 1st August 2020 there is additional government funding available to support with the recruitment of new apprentices. Employers will receive £2,000 for each new apprentice aged 16-24 and £1,500 for those who are 25 and over. Apprentices must be employed as a new member of staff from 1 August 2020 to 31 January 2021. Talk to our team to find out how you could benefit.
Levy payers
Funds will be available to you as an employer to use for apprenticeship training in England through a Digital Apprenticeship Service account. This funding can be used to pay for apprenticeship programmes. Funds will expire 24 months after they enter a digital account unless they are spent on apprenticeship training. Once you’ve agreed to invest in apprenticeship training, and the apprenticeship has started, monthly payments will be automatically taken from your digital account and sent to us as the provider. This spreads the cost over the lifetime of the apprenticeship. You will see funds entering the digital account each month as you pay the levy, and funds leaving the account regularly each month as you pay for training.
To maximise the potential benefits of degree apprenticeships to your organisation, carefully consider the following:
Identify which degree apprenticeships would be most relevant to your business strategy
Where will your organisation be in five years’ time and, consequently, which skills should you be reinforcing or putting in place?
Carry out a skills audit
What is the range and extent of the skills presently available within your company? Which roles present the greatest challenge in recruitment and retention?
Identify future leaders
Which employees are demonstrating the traits and behaviours to become future leaders or major contributors to business growth? How can you invest in their development to improve the likelihood of retaining them? Answering these questions will help you to identify the ‘skills gap’ that could be effectively filled by degree apprentices.
Calculate the value of funds available
What funding might you expect to receive via the Apprenticeship Levy for investment in degree apprenticeships? What would be the most effective way of using these funds to meet your business objectives? Our specialist Degrees at Work team will provide expert advice on how to use degree apprenticeships to your best advantage. They will guide and support you at every stage of the process of setting up and implementing your degree apprenticeship programme.
At ARU we offer a rapidly growing range of degree apprenticeships across Management and Leadership; Digital Technology and Data Science; Health; the Built Environment; and Public Services.
For Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), higher and degree apprenticeships are a central element of our work to support the economic, cultural and social wellbeing of our region and to deliver an outstanding and inclusive educational experience. ARU’s strategy Designing our Future commits our University to substantially increase the number and range of degree apprenticeships we offer.
This policy defines the rationale by which the University will subcontract apprenticeship provision funded by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) and the measures in place to ensure that any subcontracted delivery enhances our provision to apprentice and employer.
ARU subcontracts apprenticeship provision if this enables us and our employers to enhance the quality of our offer and access specialist expertise and resources that would otherwise not be available to apprentices.
Prior to engagement, all of our subcontractors go through a selection and approval process which ensures that:
All subcontracted delivery is subject to ARU’s quality controls as laid out in our Academic Regulations, Codes of Practice and other policies as well as annual financial checks. This includes observation of delivery, feedback from apprentices and monitoring the quality of assessed work. All assessment on ARU apprenticeships is moderated to ensure that the expected standards are met.
Subcontracted delivery is subject to an annual independent audit, as required by the ESFA funding rules.
ARU ensure that employers are aware of, and agree to, any subcontracting arrangements before they commit to an apprenticeship programme with us.
ARU will provide a range of services when subcontracting to ensure high quality of provision. These include:
The overall contract value with each employer will be broken down into:
Our subcontracting falls under two main categories:
Our procurement policy offers a framework to ensure that our subcontractors offer value for money. The quality of delivery is monitored in line with our subcontracting policy.
Funding retained by ARU for managing and monitoring delivery subcontractors, support activities offered to subcontractors and funding retained for quality assurance. The actual costs are determined on a case by case basis based on the requirements of the subcontracted apprenticeship programme – this is not expected to exceed 20% of the sub-contract value.
ARU’s written agreement with each employer outlines these costs, the services associated with them and each provider’s role within the delivery of the apprenticeship.
To ensure it continues to meet the University's needs and the requirements of the University's contract with the ESFA and all relevant funding regulations, this Policy is subject to annual review by ARU’s Apprenticeship Subcommittee, which reports through to Senate in terms of academic governance, and is signed by our Vice Chancellor.
If you're already partnering with us, then we'd like to make you aware of some important information that you should know.
From September 2022, we’ll be offering a range of degree and higher apprenticeships from our brand-new university.
Discover Degree Apprenticeships at ARU Peterborough“We value and advocate apprenticeships as they offer an excellent opportunity to earn whilst you learn and enables us to develop, grow and nurture a skilled workforce.”
David Wherrett
Director of Workforce, Cambridge University Hospitals
“Partnering with ARU has provided a powerful opportunity to develop and grow talent. The apprentices see what they are learning implemented on real life projects adding significant value to their experience.”
Kate Smith
HR Director, Morgan Sindall Infrastructure
“Apprenticeships are a key to unlocking growth; growth in young people, businesses and the nation.”
David Smart
Managing Director, Softwerx Ltd
“We have a long established positive working partnership with ARU enabling us to deliver high quality support to social work students and social workers throughout their careers. We are excited to see how the apprenticeship develops.”
Jan Williams
Team Manager, Essex County Council
“The Apprenticeship at ARU provides a framework for us to fulfil our training obligations. Our apprentices receive high-quality teaching whilst being able to apply their knowledge in the workplace.”
Mark Thomas
Owner, Coderus
“Capita have long yearned for a programme that provides progression following on from other Project Management qualifications. With this partnership the benefits and longevity of professional development within the Project Management sector will not only benefit the individual, but also our overall offering within our internal divisions."
GEMMA SQUIRE
Professional Development Lead, Capita
“We depend on data science, whether training an algorithm to learners, or helping warehouse staff plan for peak demand. I’m excited to give our apprentices the best possible start to their careers.”
Nick Raikes
Assistant Director of Research, Cambridge University Press and Assessment
If you’d like to discuss any aspect of degree apprenticeships, then our designated team of experts would be delighted to hear from you.