• Project Summary
• Project Outputs
  • Introduction to the Employer Engagement Toolkit
  • Employer Engagement - Formulating Strategy
  • Labour Market Intelligence
  • Customer Relationship Management Systems
  • Relationship Development and Maintenance
  • Employer Engagement and the HE Curriculum
  • Background information on Higher Level Apprenticeships, Foundation Degrees and APL
  • Conference Presentation
• Final Project Report

Project Outputs > Background information on Higher Level Apprenticeships, Foundation Degrees and APL

Academic Terminology and Employers

Successful Employer Engagement requires that staff from Higher Education Institutions [HEIs]/Further Education Colleges [FECs] and employers are able to span the boundary between two related but sometimes apparently highly differentiated domains. Every profession or field of work helps to define itself in terms of the territory it occupies and those that form part of their tribe.  A key way this manifests itself is in the context specific language that evolves and is used by different groups.

This guide aims to provide a useful list of academic terminology for use in partnership working.

 

A Glossary of Academic Terminology Related to Employer Engagement

Higher Level Apprenticeships

A key aim of Higher Level Apprenticeships is to place practical learning on a level footing with academic study at Higher Education [HE] level [level 4 and above]. This is not only to provide greater equality of opportunity with traditional HE study routes but also targets redressing skills gaps in the national economy. There are still relatively few in place [15 frameworks at levels 4 and above in England at June 2012]. Higher Level Apprentices gain the opportunity to acquire HE qualifications and further their careers to professional status at level 6 and beyond.    

This guide provides an overview of Apprenticeships and Higher Level Apprenticeships and raises some issues still to be resolved in relation to HLAs. 

Introduction to Higher Level Apprenticeships

Workbased Learning

The aim of this guide is to categorise and provide working definitions of the major types of Work Based Learning [WBL] and the terminology used to aid communication between all stakeholders in WBL in Higher Education [HE]. WBL can be confusing as a number of terms are commonly used interchangeably. What follows is derived from a Guide to Work Based Learning at Plymouth University, 2012, produced by Professor Stephen Gomez.

Introduction to Workbased Learning

Foundation Degrees

The distinctiveness of Foundation degrees [FDs] depends upon the integration of the following characteristics: employer involvement; accessibility; articulation and progression; flexibility; and partnership. While none of these attributes is unique to FDs, their clear and planned integration within a single award, underpinned by work-based learning, makes the award very distinctive. This guide provides an overview of Foundation degrees including the key aspects of employer engagements within this qualification.

Introduction to Foundation Degrees

Accreditation of Prior Learning

APL (Accreditation of Prior Learning) is a process that aims to recognise prior learning so that it might contribute to a current or future course of study. Recognition takes the form of assessing the amount and level of learning regardless of where it took place, for example at work, in the home or undertaking voluntary work. The premise is that learning can be identified, measured, assessed and accredited, regardless of the context in which it is acquired. This has the potential to save time and money and avoids the need for repetition of learning that has already been acquired.

 This guide gives an overview of APL.

Introduction to Accreditation of Prior Learning (for employers)

Introduction to Accreditation of Prior Learning (for learners)

Staff involved

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