Celebrating National Apprenticeship Week

Our mission is to help people all over the world to unlock their potential. This means our communities of students, teachers and researchers, as well as our own team. Empowering our people amplifies our collective impact. We’re passionate about supporting colleagues around the world with the right resources and development opportunities to be bold and take ownership of their career journey.  

One way we are upskilling our people, attracting new talent and recruiting to hard-to-fill roles in the UK are formal apprenticeships - a government sponsored programme. These are a way into skilled roles for people starting their working lives, returning to work or seeking a new career. All of our apprenticeship openings are advertised on our careers pages.  

To mark the start of National Apprenticeship Week 2022, taking place from 7- 13 February, we caught up with current and former apprentices, and celebrate the value and opportunities that apprenticeships bring to our organisation and to our people.  

New career apprenticeships 

Simon Butteriss, assistant director in our group operations team, completed an apprenticeship at the start of his working life and is now championing apprenticeships in his own team. Creating more opportunity is a top priority for us. New Career Apprenticeships bring in people to Cambridge and demonstrate our commitment to contributing to society through education and learning. 

“My apprenticeship journey started with a simple question from my dad: ‘Don’t you think it’s a good idea to earn while you learn?’. I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity of an apprenticeship when I was younger,” recalls Simon. “A generation later, having supported dozens of early career and mature apprentices, I am proud to be working in an organisation that sees the opportunity apprenticeships bring for organisations and people.” Read more of Simon’s story here.  

Data science apprenticeship  

“Apprenticeships are a great investment for both the organisation and the individual,” said sponsor of the data science programme, Nick Raikes. “The apprenticeships offer high quality training in areas such as analytics and artificial intelligence coupled with on-the-job learning,” he explained. “It’s a terrific way for UK-based colleagues to gain in-demand skills and develop in their current role.” 

We have five data science-related apprenticeships from level 3 up to level 7, which is equivalent to an MSc degree. “The programme enables us to hire people with potential who lacked data science qualifications or work experience when they joined us.” Nick said. “It’s been a joy to watch them develop. I’m absolutely certain that apprenticeships will continue to be a key part of our talent pipeline in the future.” 

Tom Buckham, a content architect in our Cambridge English technology team, has previously completed a level 4 data analyst apprenticeship and is currently doing a level 7 artificial intelligence (AI) data specialist apprenticeship. 

“The opportunity to learn new skills, relevant for working in our industry today, was what appealed to me about the apprenticeships. I’ve become more interested in how data-driven solutions are shaping the landscape we live and work in, so a work-based opportunity to learn more about this was appealing,” said Tom. “My analytical and programming skills have developed. Equally, the programmes make you think about how you communicate things to different audiences, especially with complex subject matters.” 

Some of the challenges involve understanding the assessment process that they have, balancing the time spent evidencing ‘knowledge, skills and behaviours’ element, and adapting the training when some programmes are new. “I’ve managed to work my way through two apprenticeships alongside raising my two boys, so juggling work and the apprenticeships and family life can be done,” Tom adds.  

One of our other data science apprentices, Patrick Robbie, has spoken about how his apprenticeship has boosted his professional development and has led to further career opportunities at Cambridge. Read interview.  

Leadership and management apprenticeship pathway 

At Cambridge University Press & Assessment, we offer four apprenticeships from Level 3 to Level 7, including a Level 6 degree apprenticeship related to leadership. This again creates opportunities for someone to progress their career with the support of an apprenticeship. 

Carri Pavitt, stakeholder relations and events manager at Cambridge University Press & Assessment, talks about her experience of the leadership and management apprenticeship in the video below.  

Publishing apprenticeship  

As the oldest printer and publisher in the world, we have a unique ability to contribute to the profession of publishing.  

When the UK government wanted to offer a publishing related apprenticeship standard, we were invited to serve - and continue to do so - on the Trailblazer group. Our role is to help create and revise the standard as needed to ensure modules are cutting edge and learner focused.  

We also serve on an advisory board with other employers to further advance and develop the publishing assistant level 3 apprenticeship standard training programme. We’ve offered this apprenticeship numerous times, both to support a new career path and to upskill a team member.  

We feel very proud to contribute to the success of careers in publishing generally and individually, especially as it has a reputation for being difficult to get into. Creating more opportunity and diversity is something we stand behind.

Celebrating success 

Our apprentices who’ve completed their apprenticeship will graduate during National Apprenticeship Week, celebrating their successes and achievements alongside our Chief Executive, Peter Phillips, and chief people officer, Janet Scotcher. We’ll be celebrating alongside them and learning more about being an apprentice at Cambridge with a number of internal events throughout the week.   

Join in the conversation by following us at @CambPressAssess on Twitter and using the hashtag #NAW2022. 

Find out more about careers with us: cambridge.org/careers