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<p>Degree apprenticeships provide people of all backgrounds with a unique opportunity
to combine degree-level study with being in a job and earning from day one.</p><p>We
are encouraged to see year on year growth in degree-level apprenticeships (levels
6 and 7), with over 138,000 starts since their introduction in the 2014/15 academic
year. Employers, working in partnership with providers, have already developed over
150 apprenticeship standards available at levels 6 and 7, of which over 100 include
a degree. We want to see that strong growth continue.</p><p>We are taking a number
of steps to drive further growth, including exploring options with the Office for
Students (OfS) to make up to £8 million available to higher education (HE) providers
through the Strategic Priorities Grant. This will help providers to expand their current
degree apprenticeship offers or develop new ones. Alongside this, the OfS is challenging
HE providers to increase the proportion of degree apprentices they recruit, through
refreshed access and participation plans.</p><p>In addition, the Institute for Apprenticeships
and Further Education is reforming how degree apprenticeships are developed, approved
and delivered so that they work better for apprentices and employers, and we are continuing
to work with UCAS to capitalise on the excellent work it does to connect young people
with a range of opportunities available to them when they are considering their next
steps after school or college.</p><p>Taken together, these measures will ensure that
more people benefit from the unique opportunities that degree apprenticeships offer
to individuals, employers and the wider economy.</p>
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