The decline in the numbers taking up the government’s workplace training scheme funded by the Apprenticeship Levy on all firms with salary bills of £3M and over has a number of different causes. One of the principal ones is that the amount given for these schemes is capped at £15,000 p.a. and consequently firms are finding that they are having to stump up additional funds to make the scheme work.
However, there has been some growth in MBA business “apprenticeships” under the scheme, with Business Schools taking advantage of the money available to market these courses to senior executives. Whether that’s entirely in the spirit of the apprenticeship scheme is a moot point, but probably immaterial as the agency that administers the levy ruled in December 2017 that only a maximum of £18,000 could be spent on a Masters course. However, as the FT reports, this is insufficient to cover the costs of the country’s top Business Schools. Interestingly, the FT also notes that “Just 38% of the business school heads interviewed for the survey said apprenticeships would be a growth opportunity 59% said this would come instead from online provision of business courses.”
With that in mind, it’s interesting to learn of a new initiative from Jump Digital, a Scottish company with interests in a diverse range of areas, including digital strategy and education, and QA, a Global training provider.
Taking as its starting point the difficulty of getting 16-24-year olds into a classroom, Jump has developed a Modern Apprenticeship programme that is the first of its kind, based on the most up to date practical content. It’s aimed directly at those currently working in Marketing or those looking to develop a career in digital or marketing or junior management and, crucially, is delivered entirely online using a blended training format. The bulk of the work is completed online over 6-12 months, with a QA DM Assessor to guide and support each participant throughout the course.
Equally importantly, full funding is available, and the course leads to a validated SQA qualification (SCQF 6 Diploma in Digital Marketing), and can lead to further education opportunities. This means that if you want to give your employees the real-world skills that can significantly improve your business’s digital marketing capabilities then this is an opportunity to be seized. The initial allocation of funded places was snapped up (15 in the first week) but a new allocation has been approved so we’d suggest that if you are interested you don’t hang about!
For more information, please email Alex Clyne, Director at Jump Digital.