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The purpose of this paper is to present the innovative approach being taken by the University of Wolverhampton to create an Apprenticeship Hub through which the regional offer for Intermediate, Advanced, Higher and Degree Apprenticeships can be accessed. Readers can review the approach taken and consider the possibilities of a similar approach in their own context.

The paper presents a case study that sets out and discusses the drivers behind the approach adopted to create the Apprenticeship Hub. It identifies the stakeholders who will engage with the Apprenticeship Hub and it outlines the reasons for, and benefits of, working in collaboration with other organisations to provide an integrated offer for apprenticeship provision across the region.

The Apprenticeship Hub is a physical entity within a well-known local landmark building that is easily accessible to the communities which is intended to serve. It has been developed to meet the national and local contexts and, although only recently established, it is meeting the needs of the stakeholder groups. It provides an environment through which the integrated regional apprenticeship offer can be accessed.

The world of apprenticeships is changing significantly with many new requirements for employers and for education. It is a complex road to travel, particularly for Higher Education (HE) which has not, traditionally, been involved in the world of apprenticeships. This paper posits that a collaborative approach to stakeholder engagement and recognition of respective strengths can lead to organisations working in partnership to draw together their respective expertise to ensure that, through a collaborative approach they can meet the needs of the communities that they serve.

Apprenticeships are new to HE; universities are entering a complex and unknown territory. This paper sets out the approach taken by one university to work in partnership with others to provide an integrated offer that could be adopted or adapted by other providers to their own context.

Traditionally, apprenticeships have been the domain of further education and skills training providers, predominately at pre-higher education levels where management, organisation, inspection and funding have little in common with those familiar to higher education. Higher level and degree apprenticeships have brought together different cultures and methods of designing, delivering and assessing knowledge, skills and behaviours, funding learners and learning providers, data reporting, quality management and its review or inspection. The purpose of this paper is to establish the primary concerns about managing quality in degree apprenticeships, the challenges the variances bring, how the challenges are being resolved and future work that may be required.

A review of a range of guidance and organisations involved in managing the quality of higher education in apprenticeships was undertaken. The primary focus is on the advice and guidance provided through the Quality Code and associated documentation, which are key to managing and assuring standards and quality in UK higher education. In addition, requirements and guidance provided through other bodies is considered along with the cross-sector groups charged with developing quality assurance processes for apprenticeships at all levels.

The paper shows a range of detailed guidance available to those entering the higher and degree apprenticeships arena and how the organisations involved in quality assurance of apprenticeships are working together to remove or mitigate concerns to ensure that quality is embedded and successfully managed.

Designing and delivering higher level and degree apprenticeships is a relatively new addition to UK higher education providers. There are long established practices to assure the quality and standards of UK higher education wherever and, however, it is delivered, in the UK, overseas and through online models. Apprenticeships across the UK have changed significantly over recent years, and new models, organisations and methods of working and funding have been introduced. This paper brings together key activity by the Quality Assurance Agency and other stakeholders to show how standards and quality can be managed and assured.

The purpose of this paper is to give a successful example of how universities can work with business to identify and address skills needs through a context-engaged approach to developing learning to meet the needs identified.

Using a case study approach the business-university collaboration to introduce work-based learning programmes is explained. The paper sets out how learning interventions were researched, designed and introduced to meet identified skills needs throughout the organisation. It highlights the practicalities of the management approach adopted and the benefits achieved through partnership working.

Key to the success of the collaboration was the recruitment of a “Training Centre Facilitator” (TCF) who was co-managed by the company and the university and who was located within the company. The TCF was able to fully understand the company’s and learners’ requirements and thus propose a context-engaged solution that met the needs of the individuals and the organisation. The work-based learning programmes introduced reflected the organisational requirements, individuals’ needs and took into account constraints and restraints on their design and implementation.

The paper presents a case study that investigates an innovative approach to partnership working between HE, FE and a private business organisation. The appointment of a TCF, employed within the company to undertake research and implement identified training interventions is an unusual and original approach to bringing together the three organisations to achieve the planned business improvements. The process used and the key principles for achieving a successful partnership are presented and could be applied in other business-education collaborations to develop in-company work-based learning.

The purpose of this paper is to identify how key external and internal policies can impact on the internal policies of a University in the UK. It explains how the internal structures can be changed to meet the policy demands and how the need to meet those demands can lead to the development of an innovative pedagogy to broaden engagement with the business community, to offer work‐based learning to employees within small to medium‐sized enterprises.

The objectives of the case study are to review the key external policies and drivers for change and how these led to internal policy and structure changes. The paper reviews past practice in the university around employer engagement, how this is affected by the external changes and identifies opportunities for change offered through the availability of external project funding. The key requirements for the new pedagogical approach are outlined, along with its primary concepts and how an e‐portfolio has been designed to meet the needs of the target group.

The paper shows how imperatives arising from policies and drivers outside the university can be contextualised by that university to develop a cost‐effective, sustainable and scaleable pedagogy to widen access to cohorts of learners that would otherwise not be able to access higher education.

The paper showcases an innovative pedagogic approach to enable access to higher education for work‐based learners in small to medium‐sized enterprises.

Research into skills level of the workforce in the West Midlands in England has identified a shortage of graduate skills and that these are needed for the region to regain its competitiveness in the national and international markets of the twenty‐first century. The purpose of this paper is to explore the practices that enabled collaboration between higher education organisations to meet the needs of local industries and businesses through work‐place learning.

The objectives of the case study are to review the background to the initiative described and the organisation and the activities undertaken. The paper reflects on the factors that enabled the collaboration to be effective and on those that jeopardised the potential success of the group. First, an overview of the case is given, starting with the concept for the project that was the focus of the collaboration. Next the organisation of the partnership is outlined and then the process of the development of the foundation degrees. Factors that impact on the effectiveness of the collaboration are explored drawing on illustrative extracts selected from the data.

Key findings corroborate previous research that posited that success, or failure, of collaboration is due to a number of factors: mutual benefit, a change in product, process or output, stated, emergent and unstated aims, perceived benefits and mutual trust.

The paper demonstrates that even where all these factors exist there may be unanticipated events that impact on the success of the project.