Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) delivers a suite of Level 6 and 7 apprenticeship standards, including the Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship. To make sure the Chartered Manager curriculum is relevant to specific industries, the course is delivered across several pathways. Karen Castle, Head of CPD Partnerships, is responsible for tailoring and delivering the curriculum to suit staff in schools and education settings working towards management.
We caught up with Karen, who told us more about the Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship programme, the challenges she faced in making it bespoke and how end-point assessment training helped her meet that challenge.
Tell us how you became involved in delivering apprenticeships for MMU?
“About two years ago, different faculties started looking at degree apprenticeships that the university could offer to organisations. I sit in the Faculty of Education. The faculty explored the possibility of offering the teaching apprenticeship standard, before I was approached by the Faculty of Business to provide an Education pathway for the Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship.”
What were the main challenges with designing the pathway?
“The apprenticeship is for teachers and education workers moving into leadership positions. This meant designing training that supported learners gain the knowledge, skills and behaviours required of a qualified chartered manager, yet relevant to particular tasks and responsibilities that leaders in schools face on a day-to-day basis.
“There were challenges around designing a programme that met the requirements of the end-point assessment, incorporated a BA (Hons) Business Management Professional degree from the university and was bespoke to education leadership. This caused a lot of debate around how to deliver the training robustly, meet all the criteria and best benefit the learners and employers.”
How did SDN’s Level 3 Undertaking End-Point Assessment help you?
“SDN’s training programme really supported my thinking when I was developing on-programme assessment for the pathway. I thought I knew what an end-point assessment was, but the training was delivered so well, it gave me real clarity. It also gave me the confidence to challenge colleagues at a high-level in the university that wanted to do things differently. On completing the training, I felt I was equipped to know how best to support the learners pass the apprenticeship.”
Were there any other benefits to SDN’s training?
“Yes. It was really good for networking. Apprenticeship standards are still so new, so to talk to other people working in the sector from a range of HEIs, colleges and private providers gave me new ideas and allowed me to think about new ways of working. I also have a qualification under my belt that can help if the university decides to offer End-Point Assessment services. I would thoroughly recommend the course.”
Visit MMU’s website for further details on the university’s apprenticeship offer.
Enrol today on SDN’s next Undertaking End Point Assessment course…
Whether you’re preparing to become an End-Point Assessor or want a better understanding of the end-point assessment process – SDN’s accredited Level 3 Undertaking End-Point Assessment course is a great place to start.
The course is delivered by blended learning, with a one-day face-to-face training and assessment day. Click for further details and share with your colleagues:
- Start: 12th November 2018
- Start: 18th January 2019