What can traditional degrees learn from apprenticeships?

Degree apprenticeships have expanded rapidly across the UK, and their benefits to productivity, social mobility and skills development are widely known. However, policy changes restricting public funding for Level 7 and some Level 6 apprenticeships indicate a rebalancing of the system, with critics suggesting this could weaken skills pipelines. But rather than a loss, it could serve as a turning point for universities: an opportunity to embed the strengths of apprenticeship learning more fully within undergraduate education.

The key question is not whether degree apprenticeships will continue in their current form, but how to apply their principles more widely. Many universities are already responding.

At the University of Exeter, curriculum reform has prioritised embedding skills development across programmes, helping students identify, practise and evidence workplace skills. Apprenticeship practices have provided new insights in areas such as applied learning, reflection and behavioural development.

At Manchester Metropolitan University, newly revalidated undergraduate programmes incorporate principles drawn from apprenticeship provision, including work-integrated learning, project-based assessment and continuous reflection linking knowledge, skills and behaviours. This creates a more integrated approach to academic and professional development.

How can we embed apprenticeship-informed practice?

We spoke to staff teaching degree apprenticeships across the UK about good practice. Conversations revealed three stages:

1. Practice

Design for application as well as knowledge

Encourage students to move beyond understanding to applying concepts in context. To help students translate theory into action, incorporate problem-based learning, simulations and personal development planning. One lecturer said:

“I design tasks that require students to use theory diagnostically…This includes case analysis, structured small-group challenges and assignments that require evidence-based recommendations. The feedback is more developmental and directed at reasoning quality, depth of analysis and alignment between argument and evidence.” 

Align learning with real-world practice

Use authentic assessments that reflect professional outputs such as reports, presentations, portfolios and applied case analyses. Where possible, enable students to experience different industries through examples or live briefs. This alignment increases relevance and engagement and helps students see the value of their learning beyond the classroom. Another lecturer said:

“It is not simply about competence in isolated techniques, but about cultivating judgement, synthesis and the ability to apply theory critically within complex, ambiguous organisational environments.” 

Develop professional behaviours

Explicitly integrate behaviours such as ethical judgement, empathy, accountability and communication into teaching and assessment through peer feedback, group work, reflective accounts, role play and ethical discussions. Embedding them helps students understand not only what to do but how to act responsibly and effectively in different contexts. Lecturers highlighted the following examples:

“I start by encouraging students to evaluate their skill in using a variety of widely recognised instruments, then reflect on what this means for their career aspirations.” 

“In a management apprenticeship course, I introduce the context, examples, diagnosis, action and review (CEDAR) model and ask students to rehearse a difficult workplace conversation in a safe environment. They then receive peer feedback. This helps students view challenging situations more objectively and respond in a professional and constructive manner.”

2. Feedback

Design curricula that provide repeated opportunities for timely and constructive feedback. Activities should require students to justify decisions, analyse evidence and respond to constraints through assessments that focus on processes alongside outcomes. This approach helps develop higher-order capabilities such as judgement, critical thinking and problem-solving. One lecturer said:

“Developing skills is about students’ personal journeys. Honing, growing and encouraging them to develop their existing skill set, while pushing them to build and add to their repertoire and to interlace academic concepts and evidence throughout all their skills.” 

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3. Reflection

Integrate regular, guided and synoptic reflection throughout programmes. Encourage students to evaluate how theory operates in practice, what works and how they can improve. Reflection supports deeper understanding, knowledge transfer and professional development, helping students build self-awareness and adaptability.

Personal tutoring

Place personal tutoring at the centre of this reflective cycle in the same way that skills or development coaches are fundamental to apprenticeships. By facilitating and assessing ongoing reflection we can capture the development of knowledge, skills and behaviours. Remind students that they are on an ongoing journey, ask questions to challenge them and listen. 

A turning point, not a loss

Although policy changes may reduce the scale of higher-level degree apprenticeships in the short term, their contribution remains significant. Over the past decade, they have functioned as “living laboratories”, offering valuable insights into how students develop skills, how learning translates into practice and how curricula can respond to employer needs. 

This style of delivery and practice could open up greater employment opportunities for students after graduation. It enables them to demonstrate their capabilities in real-world environments rather than solely through classroom-based scenarios and activities.

This is especially important as AI tools become increasingly capable of generating and synthesising information. Universities must reconsider what adds value to learning. Skills such as critical thinking, application, ethical reasoning and adaptability are likely to become more important. Apprenticeship-informed approaches offer a framework for embedding these capabilities more systematically.

If others working in higher education act on these lessons, this moment could mark a shift from apprenticeship as a specialist pathway to apprenticeship-informed pedagogy as the norm. This turning point could become a catalyst for reshaping undergraduate education to better prepare students for a complex, skills-driven and AI-augmented future.

Michelle Civile is a senior lecturer in management at the University of Exeter Business School. John Byrne is a senior lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University. Yuxi Heluo is a lecturer at the University of Exeter Business School. Trevor Brown is a reader at Metropolitan University. Paula Bradbury is a lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Michelle Civile is senior lecturer in management at the University of Exeter Business School. John Byrne is a senior lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University. Yuxi Heluo is a lecturer in professional practice at the University of Exeter Business School. Trevor Brown is a reader at Metropolitan University. Paula Bradbury is a lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University.

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