News and events

4 October 2022

New apprenticeships set to launch as University strengthens its offer

Scoring 97 per cent in an apprenticeship final assessment is ‘unheard of’. But that’s exactly what Leanne Wilson celebrated this summer, having been crowned Higher or Degree Apprentice of the year at the West Yorkshire Apprenticeship Apprentice Awards.

Leanne, 39, received the award in recognition of her achievements in managing a specialist team at Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust, where she undertook the Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship.

During that time, Leanne had to balance a challenging professional role in the NHS with her degree studies and the needs of her young family, against the backdrop of a global pandemic.

Leeds Trinity University

Leanne’s success is a shining example of how Leeds Trinity University’s apprenticeship programme enables people of all ages to take their careers to the next level.

Apprenticeships enable people to do accredited, work-based learning at any stage in their working life. As they are fully funded by their employer, the apprentice faces no expensive fees and they can carry on with their jobs, whilst studying for a degree relevant to their job role

That involves a blend of face-to-face and virtual workshops, masterclasses, and their own research and work-based projects. Through this, they develop a portfolio of evidence which all leads to their qualifications – an apprenticeship and a degree.

Through its centre for apprenticeships, the University builds the courses from scratch, working closely with industry throughout the design process to ensure the courses will equip people with the skills that employers need.  In turn, that helps grow the regional economy by raising productivity and skill levels.

“We deliberately keep our numbers small – typically 20-25 people on any one apprenticeship cohort at a time,” said Apprenticeships Relationship Manager Dan Lancaster-Holmes.

“That means people have a really good quality experience with a personal approach, such as monthly 1:1 tuition sessions, and

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strong networks with other apprentices to share ideas.

“People can tend to think apprenticeships are secondary in some way to university degrees. But they’re absolutely not,” explained Dan.

“Many people choose an apprenticeship rather than a purely academic degree because it’s very relevant to their jobs and therefore their employer. They can apply their learning in real time and see tangible benefits and rewards, and they’re fully funded.”

Leanne was among two cohorts to have come from the NHS to complete the Chartered Management Apprenticeship, with most graduating with a first or upper second class degree, or a distinction or merit at apprenticeship level.

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Leeds Trinity University is building on its success and has new apprenticeships planned, particularly for the healthcare sector.

“Over the next two years, we’re due to launch apprenticeships for nursing, and for allied health professions such as physiotherapists.” said Dan.

“And, associated with our apprenticeship in Children, Young People and Families, the National Adoption Agency has approached us to work with them to design the country’s first adoption and fostering apprenticeship.”

From January 2023, Leeds Trinity University will be the only University in the North of England to offer the Systems Thinking Practitioner apprenticeship. This new programme is designed to equip people with the skills to work with others across and beyond organisational boundaries to solve strategic and complex problems using structured methodologies and principles. The apprenticeship leads to a Post-graduate Diploma in Systems Thinking.

“We would like to see more people choosing apprenticeships and more employers coming forward to work with us. Leanne’s award is wonderful. We’d love to build on this type of success,” said Dan.

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