This Higher Apprenticeship takes 24 months (18 months to complete the taught PGCert, and then 6 months completing the End Point Assessment). Alongside the work-based training and development (which is 80% of the programme), you will spend the remaining 20% on the PGCert. This may include taught sessions on campus as part of a block release, together with extensive online materials available through our virtual learning environment.

Watch the informative video below where our then course director John Gough talks about the course in detail. This video was filmed in 2023.

This Higher Apprenticeship has been collaboratively designed by the University of Warwick and a range of employers and professional bodies to meet the requirements of the relevant higher apprenticeship standard. The university has a long history of providing high-level courses relating to career development and coaching; and we have developed considerable expertise in delivering a high-quality teaching and learning experience for those who are either currently working in, or wish to enter, career development and coaching roles. In addition, the Centre for Lifelong Learning has unparalleled experience of working with adult and non-traditional learners and has a dedicated student support team.

• Applicants will be expected to be employed in a relevant role – please consult with the course team first if you are unsure as to what this can include (contact information below).
• They will be expected to meet the University’s standard degree requirements for level 7 (2:2 or above) and present with level 2 English and Maths.
• Applicants presenting without the standard 2:2 will be required to provide alternative evidence of their ability to succeed at level 7 study through a pre-entry assessment process consisting of written work and an interview. Further support will be provided.
• Applicants without level 2 English and Maths will need to achieve this level prior to taking the End Point Assessment. For those with an education, health and care plan or a legacy statement, the apprenticeship’s English and Maths minimum requirement is Entry Level 3. A British Sign Language (BSL) qualification is an alternative to the English qualification for those whose primary language is BSL.
• On successful attainment of the standard, apprentices will be offered progression to existing PG Diploma/MA Career Education, Information and Guidance in Higher Education/ Career Development and Coaching Studies provision for career development professionals offered by CLL.

The Higher Apprenticeship Career Development Professional combines academic study with its application in a work-based practice setting, to enable apprentices to optimise their learning and demonstrate all the evidence needed to meet vocational and academic standards (knowledge, skills, and behaviours). This is often referred to as off-the-job and on-the-job training, where you will attend University on three block release periods, each lasting for one week, together with guided self-study; and then on the job with your employer.

You will be supported by a University Apprenticeship Tutor, your line manager, and other appropriate mentors, who will meet with you regularly to identify your learning objectives and evaluate progress. Your learning will also be supported by a virtual learning environment (VLE) that is accessible 24/7. This allows you to catch up with any sessions missed through short-term absence including illness or annual leave and to extend and reinforce your learning in a flexible way.

CE9B4: Foundations of Professional Practice in Career Development Work – 30 credits

Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• • Critically evaluate the professional and ethical basis of the career development profession in its societal, sectoral, and organisational contexts, and develop a deep understanding of the profession’s role in enhancing clients’ lifelong career learning linked to relevant ethics and values such as equity, justice, fairness, diversity, impartiality, integrity, and accessibility.
  • Systematically identify and integrate career development and lifelong theories and models from a range of disciplines and comprehensively apply such theories and models to the foundations of professional practice.
  • Critically engage with the challenges, problems, and issues concerned with the planning, organisation, management, and evaluation of career development services within an organisational context, including management information systems, data-informed practice, the promotion and take up of client services, relevant career-related theory, and the impact of digital technologies on such services.
  • Develop the knowledge, skills, and behaviours to collaborate effectively with a range of colleagues, clients, and other internal and external partners and stakeholders, in order to promote positive, supportive, and constructive working relationships in the provision of career development services.
  • Research, organise, and interpret relevant career-related information and apply this to the foundations of professional practice.
  • Engage in critical reflective practice in relation to career development work including reflexivity, professional boundaries, workload management, communication, personal wellbeing, and professional development needs.

CE9B5: Working with Clients to Support Career Development Learning – 30 credits

Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

1. • Systematically select, synthesise, and apply career development theories, learning theories, and models of career coaching and group work to career-related learning activities relevant to client base and organisational context including higher education, college, school, corporate, community, and self-employed.
   • Creatively design, plan, and prepare career-related learning activities for a range of clients on an individual and group basis including topics, content, learning outcomes, delivery methods, resources and career-related information, assessment, and evaluation.
   • Effectively deliver structured career-related learning activities with a range of clients in online and offline contexts to enhance their career development linked to the achievement of career-related learning outcomes.
   • Systematically demonstrate the relational, process, facilitation, and digital skills needed in relation to working with a range of clients including engagement, developing the learning alliance, structuring interventions, and relevant ethics and values.
   • Critically evaluate the delivery of career-related learning activities in relation to a range of client needs, ethics and values, organisational context, and stakeholder perspectives, and engage in reflective practice to improve such activities and own performance.
   • Communicate effectively in verbal and written form in relation to supporting career-related learning, and make appropriate use of the current course guides to presentation and referencing.

The overall aim of the first eighteen months of the programme, in terms of the assessment process, is to enable the learners to enter the Gateway, where their progress against meeting the required KSBs is confirmed, and they can then proceed with the End Point Assessment (EPA).

Overall, there are three aspects of the assessment:

• Assessment against the ILOs of the PGCert, so that the learners can acquire a career development qualification that is recognised by the employer and professional bodies.
• After eighteen months, the employer should also be clear that the learners have also met the required standards.
• This should allow the learners to enter the Gateway to the EPA. This has two components:
  - AM1, where the evidence compiled by the learners, in relation to the PGCert, should also allow them to successfully take part in a structured professional discussion, the questions for which examine the ways in which the learners have met the standard’s core duties.
  - AM2, which is a work-based project agreed between the employer, the End Point Assessor (EPAs), and the learner, and in relation to the KSBs and organisational requirements and priorities.

The first thing you will need to do is establish whether your employer has an apprentice career development scheme.

As an apprenticeship programme, all fees are met by your employer.

To register your interest in this programme please provide your details on this form.

You can also contact course lead Lynne CampbellLink opens in a new window if you have questions about the programme.