Many universities are new to the idea of apprenticeships, but not the University of Greenwich, which for more than 20 years has forged close ties with a wide network of employers, providing a range of part-time, vocational, sciences- and engineering-based courses.
“We have a strong history of employers wanting to put staff or students through our part-time study courses,” says Dr Samantha Booth, programme leader for apprenticeships in chemistry and a senior lecturer in inorganic chemistry.
“We know the courses are popular with our apprentices too. About 95% of those starting at HNC level 4 (lab technician) go on to the degree-equivalent level 6 (lab scientist).”
Encouraged by enthusiastic employer partners, the university has refashioned the portfolio of part-time degree programmes run by its faculty of engineering and science to offer degree courses tailored to roles including: lab scientists (chemistry/pharmaceuticals), technicians (chemistry), and digital solutions consultants; chemical, electronic, manufacturing and civil engineers (from Sept 2018); and lab scientists (formulation science/nutrition) and healthcare science practitioners (biomedical) (from Sept 2019).
This work has earned the University of Greenwich a coveted place on the government’s new register of approved apprenticeship providers – the only institutions with which employers can spend their levy funds.
For companies with £3m-plus annual salary bills, these funds come from a levy of 0.5% of their wage bill; smaller companies have 90% of training costs covered by the government and pay the remainder. So the incentive is there for companies big and small to use the apprenticeship scheme, and the range of available courses is expanding as a result.
“We’ve adapted our degree programmes to incorporate a lot of work-based learning,” says Booth. “We set our apprentices tasks that relate to all types of companies - so the skills acquired are transferable – but that also correlate to individual projects.
“We can only run courses financed by the levy funds that employers spend with us, which means we work very closely with them to provide what they want.”
The university recently became the first in the UK to be accredited by the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences – for its chemistry and pharmaceutical science degree apprenticeships respectively.
Greenwich has 16 degree apprentices in its latest cohort studying either chemistry or pharmaceutical science, and a further 10 on a digital technology solutions programme. In total, the faculty caters for around 60 degree apprentices – who are sponsored by companies such as Pfizer, Thames Water and Ford, as well as numerous local companies in south-east England. Courses normally last four to five years, depending on the subject studied.
“We look after our apprentices,” says Booth. “Every student has a personal tutor at the university, one or more workplace mentors and a line manager. We also offer training for staff mentors, particularly in smaller firms with stretched resources.
“Most client companies will send their apprentices to us, although we also match appropriate students with companies who may then take them on.”
So what do employers think of the university? Food supplement manufacturer Forza Industries employed its first chemistry degree apprentice, Sean Penrose, seven months ago, following a recommendation by the faculty. Managing director Lee Smith says he’s made an immediate impact, earning the respect of directors, and office and factory workers: “Sean has proved to be a stand-out guy.”
Penrose’s job as a technical assistant is to ensure the day-to-day quality of Forza’s food supplements, ensuring the company retains its British Retail Consortium accreditation. “Since he started auditing, our factory output has gone up consistently month on month,” says Smith. “That’s the benefit of having someone come in who can be rapidly trained up in the business.”
‘The skills you learn are really transferable’
Adam Gymer, 21, is a laboratory scientist at pharmaceuticals company Pfizer, just an hour’s drive from the Greenwich Medway campus. He is now completing a degree apprenticeship in chemistry, having taken an HNC in chemistry two years prior.
“Apprenticeships are a great way of introducing new talent to a company – and nurturing and retaining it. Apprentices can bring a different perspective to approaching problems and tasks. It took me some time but I’m now confident enough to suggest a good idea, or say we should try something.
“Studying in a classroom at Greenwich’s Medway campus one day a week means I can take what I learn to the lab and see its relevance.
“Pfizer lets me branch out into different areas of chemistry.
They are very hot on ensuring you get your 20% study time and that academic study must come first. They train you on great bits of kit only found in big pharma companies. Plus the skills you learn are really transferable.
“I was working on a chemical process for a drug for sickle cell anaemia and discovered some really good conditions to run the process. My find was developed into a proper process. I was then fortunate enough to be nominated for – and win – the Royal Society of Chemistry’s chemical science apprentice of the year award for 2016.”
