Degree Apprenticeship BSc (Hons) Data Scientist Data Scientist (bioinformatics route)

Information for employers

Develop specialist bioinformatics talent with our innovative Data Scientist Degree Apprenticeship: a cost-effective way to build a talent pipeline of trained early career bioinformaticians for your organisation.

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Develop trained early career bioinformaticians

Created in collaboration with industry partners, our Data Science (specialising in bioinformatics) Degree Apprenticeship balances business education with practical, real-time learning in the workplace. Apprentices master a unique skillset, combining data science together with software engineering, computational biology and mathematics to address complex problems.

Who is this apprenticeship for?

This apprenticeship will develop talent for the role or early career bioinformaticians, covering a broad range of skills to handle and analyse complex information or ‘big data’ derived from biological experiments.

They’ll be able to combine these data types to understand genes, the genome and how molecules interact and how this is relevant to diseases and their cures. You may wish to create a new role within your organisation to attract fresh talent or develop your existing staff.

Capabilities to better your business

A cost-effective way to develop and retain talent

Degree apprenticeships are a smart investment. You can reinvest Apprenticeship Levy funds to cover the cost of the apprenticeship or receive funding support from the government.

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 levy account. The cost of the Data Scientist programme for levy paying employers is £19,000 and this can be covered in full using the non-refundable funds in your levy account. If you exhaust the funds in your levy account, then the government will pay 95% of the outstanding fees and you will need to pay the remaining 5%. 

If your organisation is not required to pay the levy, you will pay only 5% of the cost of the apprenticeship programme while the government pays the remaining 95%. The cost of the Data Scientist programme for non-levy paying employers is just £950.

For more about the Apprenticeship Levy, and to find out about any additional incentive payments for hiring a new apprentice from the government, please visit the key information section on our Degree apprenticeships for employers page.

Our team of dedicated consultants can talk you through the detail.

Hear from the experts

Dr Will Spooner, Genomics England Hear from our employer partners

Addressing the skills gap

Want to build a pipeline of trained early career Bioinformaticians for your organisation? Hear from leading employers on how the UK’s first Data Science Degree Apprenticeship for the Bioinformatics profession can address the skills gap.

Delivered by experts, blending online and face-to-face learning

The course is delivered over four years and combines online learning from sector specialists and practitioners with day release sessions from our academic team.

A proportion of your apprentice’s contracted hours will be classed as ‘off the job’. This time will be dedicated to developing the knowledge and skills needed to develop occupational competence and meet the requirements of the apprenticeship.

The off-the-job learning is gaining through university-led learning sessions and activities, and practical learning experiences in their usual work setting.

Apprentices will benefit from a combination of on-campus seminars and workshops (delivered in short blocks across the duration of the programme) backed up with online learning (in real time as well as ‘log in and learn’ self-directed study).

What are the entry requirements? 

As an employer your business sets out the person specifications for the role, but the apprentice will need to meet our entry requirements to be accepted onto the course. You can view the full entry requirements on our apprentice course page.

Our team of dedicated consultants can talk you through the detail.

Visit the apprentice course page for full course details

An academic and industry partnership

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Partnering with the experts

We've worked with the world-renowned Wellcome Sanger Institute to develop this degree apprenticeship. It is the UK’s first Data Science Degree Apprenticeship for the bioinformatics profession, and a pioneering initiative to develop trained early career bioinformaticians.

Don't just take our word for it..

Dr Julia Wilson Wellcome Sanger Institute

"We have a huge skills shortage in bioinformaticians and ARU can translate some of our complex needs into an engaging curriculum. Our apprentices challenge our thinking, and they progress our science."

Dr Julia Wilson

Associate Director, Wellcome Sanger Institute

The UK's first Data Scientist Degree Apprenticeship for the Bioinformatics profession
Dr Will Spooner, Genomics England

“Apprentices have a different mindset, focused on the application of what they learn. That's a benefit for employers because they get the doers, with the skills needed to move the field forward.”

Dr Will Spooner

Commerical Programme Delivery Lead, Genomics England

Helping you find the right apprentice

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Recruitment support

Our dedicated apprenticeship team is on hand to help you attract the best candidates for your organisation. We can help with:

  • Crafting job advertisements
  • Promoting your vacancy to our registered and targeted candidate mailing list
  • Adding your vacancy to the National Apprenticeship Service ‘Find an Apprenticeship’ on your behalf
  • Sharing opportunities across our social media channels.

Our consultants will also be happy to support you in determining the suitability of the candidates you receive.

Next steps

If you'd like to know more about the apprenticeship, have a current employee in mind or are thinking of recruiting an apprentice for your business, our designated team of experts are here to support you at every step. Get in touch today.