Nineteen-year-old Jesse Seyi is saving up to buy a house. And he's in the second year of his degree.
For most students his age, saving up for a deposit while they battle the triple whammy of tuition fees, rent, and household bills is an impossibility. But Jesse says he feels his ‘personal goal’ is ‘very achievable’.
That’s because the budding IT professional is being paid almost £28,900 to complete his qualification. As part of a degree apprenticeship with Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), Jesse doesn’t have to take on student debt and spends most of his days learning on the job as an integration developer in Manchester City Council’s IT department.
Jesse is one of a growing number of young people who are turning to this debt-free higher education alternative. Students split their time between university and an employer who sponsors their course.
It can be ‘hard work’ and involves ‘a lot less party’ than the traditional university experience, according to degree apprentices.
But with university fees set to rise to £10,500 next year, and debt-straddled graduates struggling to find jobs, the popularity of degree apprenticeships is beginning to soar. More than 20,000 18 to 24 year-olds enrolled on a course in 2022 (the latest Department for Education figures), compared to just 6,200 five years before.
For Jesse, it was a no-brainer.
“I didn’t want the uncertainty of getting a degree and then having no guarantee you’ll get a job afterwards,” he explained, sitting in a booth in Manchester’s Central Library,. where he often studies after work before catching the train back to Wigan. “I wanted to be in a place where I could work immediately.”
For Jesse, the biggest attraction was the ‘hands on’ nature of his Digital and Technology Solutions apprenticeship course.
“But it also gave us a bit more financial stability at home,” he said. “We’re much better off now, but when my parents first emigrated here, it was really difficult.”
His parents, who moved from Uganda and Nigeria in the early 2000s and met in the UK, experienced a ‘very challenging’ first few years, according to Jesse.
He said: “I remember things being harder when I was young. I didn't want to be a burden to my parents after everything they've gone through.
“I wanted to be self-sufficient. I can happily say, I'm 19, and I've been able to put money aside.”
Now, he’s the first of his family to attend university, having studied BTECs at college and earning enough to be saving up ‘for a few different things.’
“But the main thing is the house. That's my personal goal,” he added.
‘Obviously, you're not getting that freshers’ uni experience.’
But the balance between work and study can be difficult. Jesse often works eleven hour days, completing his university work after he finishes at the council.
Apprentices have to secure their role with their employers first before they can be enrolled on the course. The joint commitment is ‘very different’ to a traditional degree.
Imogen Goedhart-Down, 20, is in the third month of her four-year PR and Marketing course, which she is completing with the marketing agency Democracy PR.
“With university, the appeal wasn’t there for me,” she said. “I enjoyed school, but I knew that I wanted to push myself into the world of work rather than focusing on full time education again.”
But the 20-year-old from Bury noted: “Obviously, you're not getting that freshers uni experience.”
Her course mates, who she sees in person once a month and at online lectures weekly, are based all over the UK. Some are young, others have been working in the industry for years or are moving into a new field of work at a later stage in life.
“Everyone’s really willing to speak and collaborate in lectures, so it’s still just as sociable from an education point of view. Just without all the party.”
Asked if she felt like she was missing out, Imogen said: “It depends who you are. I wasn't going to uni for the experience. I was going for the education.
“I don't feel like I'm longing to be going out till four in the morning on a weekday. Because I get the balance of both. I've got my weekends when I can go out with friends.
“Maybe if I was a fresher and all my friends were freshers, I’d think differently.”
She added: “It can feel like you’re not on the same path as everyone else.
“But I know I'm on the right path. I know where I'm going to be in four years' time now, whereas my friends now, they're in their third year doing dissertations, looking for grad jobs. So it's a different experience.”
Employers help foot the bill for their degree
Graeme McGilliard, Imogen’s employer, claims his experience with MMU’s course has been ‘transformational’. Democracy PR has five degree apprentices, making up around 21 percent of their workforce.
Larger firms pay for the degrees directly through their apprenticeship levy, while smaller firms part-fund the programs with the rest paid for by the government (via the apprenticeship levy, which is only paid by companies with a turnover of over £3m).
Employers have to put the time in to train the new apprentices, often from scratch, but according to Graeme, the return is worth it.
“The calibre of young person we've been able to get in on this degree apprenticeship has been magnificent,” Graeme beamed. “The enthusiasm of them, the quick upskilling, the development is so fast.
“They do arrive pretty much as blank pages. It’s their first job, often straight out of college; some haven't done A-Levels, and they bring a real hunger to learn.”
And employers secure employment of young people for a longer period of time, something particularly valuable for a business where social media and tech-savviness are key, according to the Chorlton-based boss.
“We train them up, but it’s very much a two-way thing,” he said “They're presenting back to people in their 30s, 40s, 50s about the things they’ve learnt.”
‘The major selling point is that you’ve got a job.’
The apprenticeship degree scheme was first launched in 2015 in response to reports from businesses about key skill shortages, which the government believed was linked to the UK’s low productivity. Many of the courses at MMU and other universities are still co-developed with businesses, in theory using up-to-date industry information to cater to business needs.
“It’s really much more geared to the workplace,” Liz Gorb MBE, Director of Apprenticeships at Manchester Met, explained. Liz has worked on the scheme since its inception and witnessed the meteoric rise of courses at MMU.
“We started with 60 on the digital and technology solutions to pre apprenticeship, and now we've got over 3,400. It's grown a lot,” she said. The university also now works with more than 600 employers, according to Liz.
“The major selling point is that you've got a job,” Liz said. “You’re working, and earning money at the same time as doing the degree.”
But she also believes there were wider societal benefits too. Liz noted that a recent graduate survey had found that 23 percent of their apprenticeship degree students said they’d been on free school meals growing up.
“Their average [graduate] salary is now around 53,000, which is incredible,” she said. “Obviously, we can't promise people that, because that takes a hell of a lot of determination from them as well.”
According to the survey, 40 percent of students in MMU degree apprenticeships are from disadvantaged backgrounds. Those on apprenticeship degrees earn an average salary of £28,900 in their first year, above the national living wage, and go on to earn around £50,000 once they've graduated.
Helping the NHS turn digital
While the degree courses, which can result in either Level 6 (Bachelor’s) or Level 7 (Master’s) qualifications, are gaining popularity among young adults, half of the uptake is by people further along in their careers looking to upskill or specialise.
District nurse Jane Roberts, 40, graduated from a Level 7 Community Nursing Specialist Practitioner degree apprenticeship last year and is about to start a new role as a digital clinician, helping introduce innovative technology into the day-to-day business of nursing.
“I come from a medical family, so it’s always been something that interested me - to support people, sometimes in the most difficult times in their lives,” she explained.
She suggested the degree apprenticeship had ‘definitely’ helped her fulfil that wish by helping her specialise and find ways to ‘make changes within the service’.
Jane, who qualified with a BA in nursing in 2005 and has worked for the Bridgewater Community NHS Trust since 2019, said the course was ‘difficult’ to juggle.
“Most people know that any service in the NHS is busy … I’m also a mum of three children, aged 16, 14 and eight.
“It needed a lot of support from the organisation, from other people, from home.”
But the district nurse thought the scheme was more accessible to her demographic than having to take time out of her career to do a Master’s course, where she’d have to pay tuition fees, lose out on income and practical experience.
Government could cut funding for Level 7 apprenticeship degrees
Level 7 degree apprenticeships are already a well-established route for nursing and social care at many trusts and local authorities. Yet its future is uncertain after the government recently announced it would be reforming the Levy funding system.
The Labour government want to turn the funding into a new ‘growth and skills levy’ with a stronger focus on getting young people into work. The move could leave employers footing the bill to upskill older workers.
In general, changes to the Levy are one of the biggest risk to the degree apprenticeship scheme, with employers pausing new recruits in fear they’ll be left paying the fees.
MMU’s Liz Gorb is nonetheless ‘hopeful’ about the new government's support of apprenticeship degrees.
“I should hope things that are skills gaps - district nurses, community and public health, but also software engineering, cyber security - are exemptions to [the removal from the levy], and we can still fund those because they are very valuable,” she said.
But uncertainty around the levies has a tendency to spook the businesses who could host them, who hold back from opening new apprenticeship positions for fear they’ll end up footing the bill for them entirely. It’s why people like Liz, along with employers, are lobbying the government to introduce some more security around apprenticeship degree funding.
“Hopefully, we'll get some real recognition of how this is doing what the country wants in terms of skills shortages, economic growth, social mobility,” Liz said. “It’s a really good route.”
