Abstract
Apprenticeships have become a central feature of the United Kingdom’s skills and higher education landscape (Skills England: Sector evidence on the growth and skills offer, 2025), particularly following major reforms aimed at expanding participation and addressing employment market needs. Higher and management-level apprenticeships, especially Level 6-degree apprenticeships, have been promoted as innovative pathways that blend academic study with paid employment, offering alternatives to traditional university routes (THE FUTURE OF DEGREE APPRENTICESHIPS #EARNANDLEARN, n.d.). Despite strong policy narratives emphasising their potential to widen participation, reduce financial barriers, and enhance social mobility, emerging evidence suggests persistent inequalities in access, progression, and outcomes. This study investigates the pathways and barriers experienced by learners entering higher and management apprenticeships, examining how socio-economic background, employer recruitment practices, institutional structures, and regional labour market conditions shape learner trajectories.
Drawing on mixed-methods data, the research explores how apprentices navigate these programmes, the extent to which they experience mobility, and the structural constraints that may limit equitable participation. The study also considers the impact of the Apprenticeship Levy and employer-led standards on the design and delivery of apprenticeship provision. Findings will contribute to debates about whether apprenticeships genuinely disrupt entrenched inequalities or risk reinforcing them through employer-driven selection and uneven access to high-value programmes.
The study will benefit policymakers, employers, training providers, and learners by identifying practical interventions to improve access, retention, and progression for underrepresented groups. Ultimately, it aims to inform more equitable apprenticeship policy and practice, ensuring that higher and management apprenticeships fulfil their promise as credible, socially inclusive routes into skilled employment.