How to Measure Success in Apprenticeship Delivery
When delivering academic programmes of study, metrics and league table rankings emerge as key indicators of success. For vocational programmes, however the picture is more complex.
The question of how to measure the success of apprenticeship delivery becomes burdened by the various stakeholders involved in the apprentice journey. In order for apprenticeship programmes to be successful, they need to integrate the needs and objectives of the training provider, the employer or industry and the apprentice themselves.
In this blog article, we explore key action points for providers seeking to define, implement and evaluate their measures of success in apprenticeship delivery. By setting and working towards clear objectives and definitions of success, practitioners can enhance the quality of their apprenticeship delivery and improve the overall student experience.
Determine Measures of Success
In order to determine the success of an apprenticeship, it’s essential to outline the key characteristics of successful programme delivery. These can be reviewed at regular stages and intervals throughout the programme and at the completion of the qualification.
Your success indicators should be tethered around the specific apprenticeship standards identified with the input of businesses and specific to the industry relevant to the apprenticeship. Your standards will also outline the desired Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours (KSBs) you expect your apprentices to develop on the programme.
Consider developing a set of targets or goals that demonstrate how an apprentice has developed each KSB.
You can employ a specific framework to do this. Sheffield Hallam University employs SMART learning objectives in their apprenticeship coaching and mentoring. In this approach, each outlined goal must be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.
For example, if a desired KSB is good written communication, you might set a SMART goal for an apprentice to produce quality pieces of written work, such as a blog post relating to their industry.
By starting with your standards and KSBs, you will be able to work downwards from the abstract to the practical to define what success means and looks like for your apprentices.
Allocate Responsibilities and Timeframes
It’s not enough to simply define what success looks like in an apprenticeship; you must also allocate responsibility for these targets and develop a timeline in which they should be achieved. After all, it isn’t just apprentices who are responsible for their progression; teaching and support staff must also take accountability for their role in the apprentice experience.
Northeastern University London clearly defines its cycle of evaluation and improvement. Key takeaways from this outline of procedures and policies surrounding evaluation include:
The nomination of significant actors in the evaluation process and their responsibilities. This includes individuals such as Programme Directors and the Director of Apprenticeships, as well as relevant bodies such as the Apprenticeship Programme Committee, the Academic Board and the Staff Student Liaison Committee.
The delineation of timelines for evaluation processes and procedures, which outline how regularly committees meet and key institutional decisions are made.
Northeastern’s approach is tethered around the UK Quality Code for Course Design and Development, which asks providers to regularly review its core practices for quality and use outcomes to drive improvement. You might enhance this approach by including outlines of what is expected of employers or relevant actors within the business of a given apprenticeship programme.
Deciding who will be responsible for this review, and how regularly it should be conducted, will be key to measuring the success of your apprenticeship delivery.
Harness Student and Employer Voice
Responding to feedback is crucial for any institution looking to enhance the experience of their students. It’s also a key step in determining if your programme delivery is successful.
In apprenticeship delivery, it’s not only student voice that is key to measuring success and improving experience; practitioners must also consider the feedback of partner employers.
Many providers make use of tools such as ESFA’s feedback portals, which was updated to record not only employer feedback but also anonymous responses from apprentices in June 2022.
However, there may be more creative ways to harness both apprentice and employer voice and use it to measure success in the delivery of your programmes. For example, you might:
Develop internal surveys to gather student feedback, as the University of Northampton has done. This will enable you to address issues that have been highlighted in your review samples and use the student responses to inform interventions.
Assess data, such as progression, completion, attainment ad enrolment statistics for students, and review your employer pipeline regularly.
Integrate sector research into your approach, such as the Apprentice Panel’s Survey of Apprentices, RateMyApprenticeship or feedback pertaining to apprentices in the National Student Survey.
Collecting this feedback will enable you to determine what success looks like for employers and apprentices, and apply that to your institutional definition of success.
By outlining clear targets, identifying roles and timelines and gathering and responding to feedback, providers can develop a more robust approach to measuring success in apprenticeships. This can serve to improve the quality of apprenticeship delivery, in addition to having positive outcomes on the apprentice journey in your institution overall.
