Senior Leader Master’s Degree Apprenticeship review – our published response in full

The Chartered ABS has submitted a response to the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) regarding its review of the Senior Leaders Master’s Degree Apprenticeship (SLMDA).

Business schools have been at the forefront of degree apprenticeships and their take up by universities, largely due to their close relationships with local, national and international businesses and their readiness to provide the training and qualifications required by businesses. Business schools also engaged with the trailblazer group in the creation of the standard for the SLMDA.

A survey of Chartered ABS members conducted to provide further data to inform the IfATE review found that the majority of starters on the SLMDA are mature students and for some this represents a valuable opportunity to gain their first higher education qualification. The survey also found that the greatest number of participants are either managers or middle managers, which clearly indicates that businesses are using the SLMDA to upskill their workforce. Furthermore, 63% of students are from the public sector and less than 7% from large corporates. The remainder are from charities, social enterprises and SMEs.

Feedback from our member business schools shows that the SLMDA standard and its final work-based project enables students to use their learning to generate targeted outcomes for their organisation, which is crucial given that a significant part of the productivity shortfall in the UK economy is related to weak management rather than shortage of functional skills. The consensus of our members is that limiting access to degree-level apprenticeships would therefore be a great loss to UK organisations who are seeking to improve management capabilities.

You can read our response to the consultation in full here.