Session 70: The role of Academic Liaison Tutors to support Degree Apprenticeship students

Abstract

A 2023 Curriculum Enhancement Project worked to understand the specific needs of CBE DA students and the role of the PT based upon the various stakeholders’ perspectives, including the apprentices, the employer and the academic tutor/s and how the role may differ and/or cross over with that of the ALT, which is a specific role designed to assisted the DA and their employer through the particulars of the apprenticeship and compliance with the DA standard/s and associated internal and external regulators.

The project focused upon identifying if apprentices required increased support and then to investigate methods of providing this, all whilst respecting the structure of the DA.

Within the apprenticeship three-way communication between the employer, university and student are considered essential to ensuring all parties are aware of their obligations, act on them, the objectives of the curriculum/standard and that a collaborative support structure is provided.

Questionnaires were developed and distributed to ALTs, employers, and students, obtaining qualitative and quantitative data, to allow for comparability within answers, but also richness and depth to be explored with follow-up questions.

The project produced various recommendations including designing an annual reflective process, of which all parties will provide their inputs and views on the apprenticeship support mechanisms, this will then detail the actions needed to support all parties. Furthermore, the project identified ALT’s would benefit from similar support materials to that of the PT’s, such as the Canvas Module NCTLA39. This resource could also be duplicated/mirrored for the employers workplace mentors, but would require a common data environment/repository for the material to be accessed. The DA students also expressed a preference for the continuation of the ALT throughout their DA journey and employers a consistency in the approach to the ALT role from apprentice to apprentice.

In summary the project carried out a critical analysis of current systems and procedures with an aim of striving for best practice via a commitment to a continuous improvement model of identifying challenges, implementing interventions and reflection.

The role of Academic Liaison Tutors to support Degree Apprenticeship students PowerPoint. Only LJMU staff and students have access to this resource.