Abstract
Degree apprenticeships combine academic study with practical work-based training, providing individuals with the opportunity to gain a degree while developing within the workplace. Apprenticeships offer organisations the opportunity to develop a skilled, engaged workforce tailored to their specific needs, ensuring a strong alignment between employee skills and workforce planning. Drawing on Vygotsky’s social constructivism theory (1978), this study explores how academic support services scaffold apprentices' learning by bridging the gap between academic theory and workplace practice (Bockarie, 2002).
This paper seeks to address the need to identify and evaluate the effectiveness of academic support within degree apprenticeship programmes by drawing on the autoethnographic insights of an apprenticeship course leader to explore the complexities of delivering academic support and asks: How do support services contribute to the success of apprentices in a UK degree apprenticeship programme? Through a critical examination of the course leader’s experiences, this research highlights the tensions, and successes, encountered in designing and implementing support services that balance apprentice needs, academic study and workplace demands. This study is significant for practitioners, institutions, and employers, providing valuable insights into how support structures provide for the unique needs of degree apprentices.