Norfolk Network stories

From September, City College Norwich (CCN) will be the first education provider in Norfolk to offer a Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship programme. Students completing the course will be awarded a BA (Hons) Degree in Leadership and Management, plus Chartered Manager status from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI).

According to research by the CMI, poor management and leadership costs the UK economy over £19bn a year. In addition, 64% of employers surveyed said a lack of management skills is holding back growth. Simon Rhodes, CCN’s Higher Education Development Manager, says the course will give local businesses the opportunity to invest in the higher skills development of their employees.

The course was developed in association with the CMI and local businesses and is validated by the UEA. “In developing this programme, we have worked with several key local employers to design a course that effectively meets their requirements to develop leadership and management skills,” explains Simon. “To ensure that our programme remains relevant to their needs, representatives from local employers will be invited to attend regular course meetings to review the delivery of the programme.”

CCN has for many years offered business degrees, but the introduction of new apprenticeship funding rules has provided the opportunity to offer a degree apprenticeship as an alternative option to a traditional full-time programme. “The new apprenticeship levy rules represent a significant change to the funding of apprenticeships,” adds Simon. “As well as encouraging larger firms to invest in the training of their staff, this scheme provides smaller employers with access to high quality training programmes that previously might not have been financially viable for them.”

Under the new rules, large employers with a payroll exceeding £3m pa are required to provide 0.5% of their payroll bill to fund apprenticeships, with the government providing an additional 10% for approved programmes. For businesses with annual payroll figures under this threshold, employers will need to fund 10% of the training cost, with the government providing the remaining 90%.

Simon believes the programme broadens access to higher qualifications for a new group of learners, such as people already in employment, or those wanting to break into a new career where the financial burden of further education is prohibitive. “Existing employees will be able to study for higher qualifications, whilst continuing to earn and build their careers. Equally, the option to learn while you earn, thereby avoiding the need to take out a student loan and the associated debts that this incurs, may well encourage school leavers to look to gain employment with an organisation that offers these courses, rather than taking up a place at university. This may well create a key differentiator for local employers that do offer such training opportunities.”

On graduating from the course students will be qualified to level 6 and will have the option to progress to level 7 (Master’s degree) with the UEA. CCN also have plans on offering an L5 operations /Departmental Manager Higher Apprenticeship in the future.

If you are an employer interested in participating in this apprenticeship degree, or someone you would like a course brochure, contact:

Simon Rhodes
Higher Education Development Manager
City College Norwich

Tel: +44 (0)1603 773449
Email: Simon.rhodes@ccn.ac.uk