We were delighted to see so many of our university and training provider customers delivering higher level apprenticeships at the first face-to-face Higher Education (HE) Forum of 2023.  

It was a packed agenda covering: 

• Updates to the 23/24 funding rules. 

• The 3Rs for Apprenticeship Compliance presented by David Lockhart-Hawkins from Strategic Development Network. 
• An interactive session on Aptem best practices, supported by Kara Thomas at Birmingham City University (BCU). 
• A panel discussion around programme design, quality and compliance, with compliance experts and current and former apprentices. 
• An overview of cognitive assessment from Sammy Shummo at London South Bank University (LSBU) and presentation of the newly launched Aptem Assess. 

Highlights from the day 

David Lockhart-Hawkins clarified the funding rule changes announced on Friday 12 May by ESFA. Click here for more details.  

David followed this with a presentation from the Strategic Development Network’s Apprenticeships for Leaders series, addressing compliance architecture and programme design. He discussed structure, knowledge and key questions; the internal three Ps – Provider, Product and People; the external three Rs – right programme, right learner, right employer.  

Aptem’s Implementation Team led a practical workshop involving product demonstration, group ideation and sharing of good practices, covering: 

• Onboarding – more than simply a data collection exercise. How the onboarding wizard can also be used as a mechanism for giving information, advice and guidance about the apprenticeship that the learner is about to embark on. Also how using HTML templates enables you to create engaging content during the onboarding journey. 
• Reviews – innovative, wider uses of Aptem’s review functionality. Self-service take-up and how reviews can be used to address new funding rules around employer contribution. 
• Issuing offer letters within Aptem – led by Kara Thomas from BCU. 
• Active learning – how to design learning plan activities to ensure you can track and monitor active learning on Aptem, in line with the requirements of having planned learning every calendar month.  

A panel session chaired by Steve Dewhurst, Aptem’s Higher Education Product Director, enabled Universities to ask current apprentices about their experiences on programme, particularly with regard to identification of recognition of prior learning within the enrolment stage, the effectiveness of the Skills Scan, presentation of KSBs throughout programmes, and their impression of reviews.  

The day closed with LSBU presenting their current approach to cognitive assessment and their ambitions using Aptem Assess – Aptem’s latest product launched in May 2023, complemented by a short overview of the product. 

Thank you to all of our Higher Education customers for attending and sharing so openly. Special thanks to Zoe Bolger and David Lockhart Hawkins from the SDN for their support with facilitation and presentations, and Kara Thomas at BCU and Sammy Shummo from LSBU for sharing insights. 

We look forward to seeing everyone in October.