Degree Apprenticeship Programme
TAILORED DEGREE APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMME AT CATERHAM SCHOOL
Degree apprenticeships are increasingly popular with Sixth Form pupils keen to explore how they can gain a university degree whilst gaining live professional and corporate experience, contacts and a salary. The degree apprenticeship route is a very different offer and experience to that of a traditional university degree experience and it is important that pupils weigh up what is right for them.
Caterham School launched a degree apprenticeship programme in 2018 in recognition that pupils considering this route should be offered the same level of support as those applying for the traditional UK university pathway and the overseas university route. Of course, many of our pupils are applying for all three pathways and therefore the need to gain expert advice to navigate, and ultimately succeed across all three is vital.
Caterham’s degree apprenticeship programme is a weekly and begins in the first term of the Lower Sixth, running all year round.. The process of applying for degree apprenticeships to some extent mirrors the graduate recruitment process that countless young people go through after university. This means that school-age young people still in Sixth Form will encounter application stages that they will not have any knowledge or experience of or ready skills for.
The success of the degree apprenticeship programme at Caterham is due to the use of both internal and external contributors who run specialist sessions. For example an alumni who is an occupational psychologist and designs assessment centres for a police force will run the programme sessions on assessment centres. A parent who was involved in graduate recruitment for a large global firm runs our sessions on company research and application one to ones. A former TV presenter gives guidance and practical sessions on making an impact both in virtual and physical interviews.
Many alumni who are on degree apprenticeships or who have now completed them supply current pupils with insight into their experiences. This ‘living library’ helps with the application process but also giving real life insight into a very different early career path versus university student life.
Topics covered:
| Introduction and Looking Ahead | The Importance of Company Research |
| Video and recorded interviews | Assessment Centres |
|
Mock Interviews |
Alumni talks |
| Company presentations | Powerful Public speaking |
| Making an impact at interview | Understanding your strengths |
| How to interpret job adverts | PwC Employability Programme |
| 1:1 sessions | Interview workshops |
| Numerical Reasoning | Creating a LinkedIn profile |
| Covering Letters | CVs |
| Verbal Reasoning | Application Forms |
