Business degree apprenticeships ‘deliver on social mobility’

Business school apprentices are more likely to come from socially disadvantaged groups than undergraduates in the same disciplines, says a new report which pushes back on claims of a “middle-class grab” of degree apprenticeships.

While degree-level apprenticeships have been viewed as helping to improve social mobility, there has been growing concern that many of the most highly prized placements have been won by private school pupils or those from affluent backgrounds. In December 2022, a Sutton Trust report found only 5 per cent of those starting a degree apprenticeship in 2020-21 were from lower-income areas.

But new analysis by the Chartered Association of Business Schools suggests some parts of degree apprenticeship provision may be delivering on social equity. Nearly a third of business and management apprentices (32 per cent) come from the lower two quintiles for social deprivation, compared with 28 per cent for traditional business and management undergraduates, it says.

For retail leadership degree apprenticeships that rose to 50 per cent and for facilities management it was 41 per cent, says the report, which was published on 8 February.

For higher-level degree apprenticeships – equivalent to postgraduate study (level 7) – the respective figures for low-participation neighbourhoods was 25 per cent, ahead of 22 per cent for degree learners at that level in business school subjects.

“These findings underscore the potential for apprenticeships to bridge socioeconomic disparities and offer opportunities to individuals from underrepresented backgrounds, particularly at the undergraduate level, while also highlighting the importance of addressing such disparities in postgraduate apprenticeships,” the report claims.

Evidence also failed to support claims that degree apprenticeships were inordinately taken by independent school pupils, with only about 3 per cent of level 6 business school apprenticeships taken by privately educated students – who make up about 7 per cent of all sixth form-level pupils, compared with about 9 per cent of business and management undergraduates.

Some 60 per cent of business school apprentices are “first-in-family” students – higher than 57 per cent for traditional business school undergraduates.

In addition, only 9 per cent joining degree-level apprentices had a degree, while about a fifth (18 per cent) joined with qualifications lower than A level or an equivalent.

The figures underlined the importance of business school apprenticeships, which make up nearly half of all degree-level apprentice qualifications (47 per cent), said the business school association, which estimated their economic benefit was about £700 million annually.

“Apprenticeships already provide a significant contribution to the lifelong learning agenda, reach into communities where higher education engagement is at its lowest, and support new pathways into successful careers,” it said, adding that higher-level business apprenticeships in leadership, business and management “play important roles in widening participation on multiple measures and are key to the levelling up agenda”.

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com