There were again inspiring presentations by the 4 apprentices invited to speak. One of the biggest takeaways for us though was the update on the new Level 6 Integrated Apprenticeships. These are due to launch in 2025. They will lead to some modifications to the current non-integrated degrees. However, the apprentice will not be awarded their degree until they have undertaken their End Point Assessment.
The changes lead to some lively discussions on the proposed changes. For example, how can an apprentice sit their IEng EPA before they formally have a degree? There is a potential need for universities to source mentors to support the apprentices on their IEng EPA journey.
IFATE have not released the new apprenticeship yet as it is in development – see https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/apprenticeship-standards/civil-engineer-in-revision
The HE sector as the Training Providers are already planning for the changes. The ICE are also preparing a position paper, which we hope will state how they are going to respond to the changes with regards the EPA and the award of the IEng.
Other key questions are how much of the mentoring support to apprentices will employers have to provide? How much will the universities absorb? Will the ICE retain their EPA role? These uncertainties are of great interest to us as we are already mentoring numerous apprentices and we need to provide them with appropriate support.
It will be interesting to see how things shake out.
If you have any apprentices requiring mentoring, please feel free to reach out to our Dr Andy Goodwin. He is an EPA Assessor with the ICE and understands the demands on apprentices.
By the way, the photo below is used with permission of one of the current apprentices – great learning opportunities working on a complex bridge!
