Business school heads vow to fight axing of MBA apprenticeship

The heads of leading British business enterprise educational institutions have vowed to thwart authorities options to axe the MBA apprenticeship by splitting the examine into two, with the the greater part nevertheless getting protected by the coaching programme.

Apprenticeships for senior executives have mushroomed following authorities reforms to techniques funding that pressured employers with yearly payrolls better than £3m to set apart an equal to .five for each cent of this sum for paying on place of work coaching strategies.

Unhappiness that levy resources ended up getting expended in this way, on programmes costing up to £18,000, prompted education and learning secretary Gavin Williamson to seek a critique into the MBA apprenticeship with an eye to eliminating it from the levy process.

The Department for Training has not nevertheless formally scrapped the MBA apprenticeship. But in the hottest checklist of apprenticeship requirements issued by the administering company, the requirement to obtain an MBA or other masters diploma to entire a senior leader qualification has been slice.

Even so, David Oglethorpe, dean of Cranfield university’s college of administration, advised the Fiscal Times that his institution would keep on to offer you an MBA no matter what the end result of the critique.

Below Mr Oglethorpe’s proposal, pupils would entire a senior leader apprenticeship and then undertake an more piece of coursework and fork out an further price to obtain an MBA. Some pupils could have to fork out this cost, which could be up to £9,000, themselves but it would nevertheless only be a portion of the overall price.

“I have been fighting tooth and nail to say go away it as it is, but this implies we could nevertheless offer you the qualification,” Mr Oglethorpe said.

“The comments we get from employers is that it can help them appeal to and keep essential team. A fifth of our intake come from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds and fifteen for each cent had by no means been to college before starting up the programme.”

A fifth of our intake come from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds and fifteen for each cent had by no means been to college before starting up the programme

“The senior leader apprenticeship common has been mapped on to an MBA curriculum, creating it quick for us to offer you an MBA for individuals that would like one particular,” Mr Oglethorpe said. “We would have to demarcate the two qualifications but that is rather easy to do.”

This way of funding an MBA has benefits, Mr Oglethorpe extra. “Whilst the qualification continues to be part of an apprenticeship common, you simply cannot request staff to contribute to the expense. If you could, it would signify they would have pores and skin in the sport.”

Other business enterprise college heads said they ended up considering identical preparations if the authorities made the decision to clear away the MBA from apprenticeships.

“The MBA is observed as a considerable point on a CV so there will always be an incentive to offer you a route to finding this through the apprenticeship,” John Board, dean of Henley Business School.

“The even bigger danger is that the authorities cuts the selling price employers ought to fork out for the apprenticeship, which would no more time make it feasible for educational institutions like us to offer you our program. You would then be remaining with companies who only fork out lip company to the requirements needed for substantial-high quality administration coaching.”

The thought of supplying an MBA independently to the apprenticeship also been given the backing of the Chartered Administration Institute, the accreditation overall body for administration education and learning in the United kingdom.

“It would set a odd precedent if the authorities said that employers simply cannot fork out for their staff to examine for this qualification if that is what they want to do,” Daisy Hooper, the CMI’s head of coverage and community affairs, said.

“The apprenticeship levy has broadened access to the MBA. Limiting this will move it back to turning into an elitist qualification.”

The Department for Training said: “The education and learning secretary asked the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technological Training to critique the senior leader apprenticeships common to ensure it is meeting its aims and offers price for revenue. The critique is ongoing.”