2022/23 Key Information for apprenticeship programmes

Introduction

Your employer will be responsible for ensuring that your role within your workplace provides the opportunity for you to gain the knowledge, skills and behaviours required to achieve the relevant Apprenticeship Standard that applies to your apprenticeship. The University will provide the academic training of your Apprenticeship Programme to you with reasonable care and skill and make arrangements for your end-point assessment, alongside your employer.

Successful provision of your academic training relies upon a strong partnership between you, your employer and the University. Underpinning the partnership are a number of regulations, policies and procedures and you will find the current versions and more detailed guidance on these here. These policies and procedures are relevant to your studies so please familiarise yourself with them so you know what to expect. It’s worth adding that your particular faculty may have additional policies or procedures which will be brought to your attention.

Please do read this Important Information for Students on Apprenticeship Programmes document and all other information provided to you with your Offer Letter carefully to make sure you understand what the University agrees to provide and what you will need to comply with and do. It is your responsibility to make sure that all the information you provide to the University is accurate and true. It is not possible to provide the full detail of every policy or procedure that may apply to your studies within the text of this document. You will find a number of links included within this document or the documents referred to within them that will allow you to access more detailed information on particular areas. From here on in, we will refer to Manchester Metropolitan University as “the University”, to you as “you” or a “student” or an “apprentice”, and an educational programme of study as an “Apprenticeship Programme”.

Please note that during your time as a student with us, it is the University’s policy to use your University email address to communicate with you. Please check your emails regularly to make sure you stay up-to-date.

1. Key Apprenticeship Student Documents

There will need to be a written agreement in place between your employer and the University concerning your apprenticeship. A number of key documents set out important information applicable to your studies on your degree apprenticeship at the University (we call them the “Key Apprenticeship Student Documents”). These are:

• This Important Information for Students on Apprenticeship Programmes document and any other document referred to herein.
• The University’s Policies, Regulations and Procedures for students are available here.
• Your Offer Letter and any other document referred to within that letter including the commitment statement. The Education and Skills Funding Agency (“ESFA”) requires you, your employer and the University to enter into a commitment statement. The commitment statement will be signed by you, your employer, and the University, setting out how we will all work together to support the successful achievement of your apprenticeship; the signature forms a condition of your offer. This is different to the University’s Academic Community Commitment. Your offer may contain further academic or non-academic conditions. You will only be able to register with us if you meet both the academic and non-academic admission requirements. If you need to satisfy any conditions, you may need to fulfil these before a set date, otherwise we may withdraw your offer or be unable to allow you to register. The University’s Recruitment and Admissions Policy provides further information on the student recruitment process. If you have a complaint about our recruitment or admission process, please see our Student Appeals and Complaints Policy for Applicants and Student Appeals and Complaints Procedure for Applicants for further information. The University may withdraw or amend an offer at any time up until you accept it, or after acceptance, if it comes to the University’s attention that your application contained incorrect or missing information or you do not meet any conditions of offer.
• You will also need to abide by a number of terms and conditions relating to access to and use of particular University services, for example, those relating to the use of the University’s computing and information technology services. You will have the opportunity to read and consider these before you access or use those services.
• By accepting your offer of a place on your Apprenticeship Programme and registering with the University you accept the information and terms set out here and agree to abide by the University’s Policies, Procedures and Regulations.

2. What Does The University Expect Of You?

Alongside the obligations in this document, the University has developed the Academic Community Commitment. The Academic Community Commitment sets out the intention of the University and the Students’ Union to work in partnership with you as a University student in supporting your learning and helping you succeed, and sets out your role in ensuring that success, and the standards of behaviour and personal responsibility expected of our students.

Although the University would like to draw your attention to the Academic Community Commitment, it is not intended to be legally binding or to form part of the Key Apprenticeship Student Documents. The Academic Community Commitment is different to the written commitment statement (provided separately) that you, the University and your employer are required to sign to meet the requirements of the ESFA.

Specific obligations

In addition to all obligations set out within the Key Apprenticeship Student Documents that apply to you, you are required to:

• Play a full and active role in progressing your studies at the University and fully engage with any attendance registration or monitoring methods that are in place in line with the Student Engagement Policy. You should let the University and your employer know if you cannot attend classes or cannot continue to engage with your Apprenticeship Programme for any reason;
• Comply with the terms of your written commitment statement and all other terms, policies, procedures or regulations described in the Key Apprenticeship Student Documents. You should also familiarise yourself with any specific information provided to you in connection with your Apprenticeship Programme;
• Keep all information provided to us up-to-date and notify us promptly of any changes in your information. You should provide us with up-to-date contact information;
• Meet any conditions set out in your Offer Letter and continue to satisfy these conditions (where relevant);
• Comply with all codes, regulations, policies and procedures as amended from time to time and adhere to all terms and conditions applicable to use of particular University services such as those relating to use of the Library or IT services;
• Register/enrol with us before the start of your Apprenticeship Programme and re-enrol/re-register with us each academic year unless you have a valid interruption of study authorised by us. Please note that students on Apprenticeship Programmes may not follow the standard academic year calendar of other University students;
• When you enrol you will receive a student card which you must collect and should then carry with you when you are on campus. You may need to show this to authorised representatives of the University and will need this to access a range of University services;
• Take responsibility for your learning by engaging with your Apprenticeship Programme in a timely manner, spending appropriate time on private study and complete all required assessments by the dates set, unless, exceptionally, a variation is approved through the appropriate University procedure. You agree to participate in any attendance monitoring procedures of the University and will meet any minimum attendance requirements for your Apprenticeship Programme;
• Act in a courteous and responsible manner during your time as a student and within the community including taking reasonable care for your own safety and the safety of others. You must comply with any reasonable instructions we provide to you about health, safety and security including within our Health and Safety Policy.  In particular, we may put in place specific health and safety policies which will apply to you when you are on any of the University’s campuses or using any of the University’s facilities.   Sometimes, we may need to add new policies and procedures or change existing ones quickly in order to respond to an immediate health or safety threat (such as an epidemic or pandemic) or where particular requirements are imposed on us by (for example) the government or other local authorities or public health authorities.  We will tell you about any such policies and procedures and we will let you know as quickly as possible about any changes to such policies and procedures.  We ask you to comply with these policies and procedures in order to ensure your safety and those of others around you.
• Behave in a manner consistent with the Student Code of Conduct on campus and within the community;
• Complete the end-point assessment process associated with your Apprenticeship Programme. End-point assessment is an independent assessment of the knowledge, skills and behaviours which have been learnt through an Apprenticeship Standard. The requirements for end-point assessment are set out in the assessment plan for your specific Apprenticeship Standard.
• When you enrol, you will receive a photographic student identification card. Collection of your student ID card is the last step of the enrolment process, once you have completed online enrolment, photo upload and identity verification. Information will be provided on the dates and times student ID cards are available to collect on campus. The University may post student ID cards out to selected groups of students. Students on Distance Learning programmes must request a student ID card, if desired, by emailing student_idcard@mmu.ac.uk with their full name, student ID and mailing address.
• You must carry your student identification card with you at all times when you are on campus. You may need to show this to authorised representatives of the University and will need this to access a range of University services. You agree to provide us with all information and assistance reasonably required to provide you with your student identification card (including providing us with a passport-style photo which we will put on your student identification card).

3. The University’s Regulations

Are there any particularly important or surprising terms?

There are some policies and procedures which we need to draw your particular attention to as they can result in a disciplinary process and ultimately mean you may not be able to continue at the University. These include:

• Procedure for Handling Academic Misconduct
• Student Transfer, Suspension and Withdrawal Policy
• Student Code of Conduct

Please see Section B for more information on these policies and procedures.

Please note that some Apprenticeship Programmes may have specific requirements for an occupational health check and/or a relevant criminal record check with the Disclosure and Barring Service. For such Apprenticeship Programmes, checks may be carried out either by the employer or by the University depending on the arrangements that are in place for the specific Apprenticeship Programme.

4. Criminal Convictions

As part of the University’s duty of care to students, staff and those people a student may come in to contact with directly in relation to his or her studies, we require all applicants who accept an offer of a place to let us know of any relevant, unspent criminal convictions.

Why do we ask for this information?

This is to enable us to identify, assess and manage the potential risks to the University community, and/or to offer support where appropriate.

For further information on what is ‘relevant’ and ‘unspent’ please visit our Disclosure of Criminal Convictions webpage.

Applicants to regulated profession apprenticeship programmes

Certain Apprenticeship Programmes that involve interacting with children or vulnerable adults in regulated activities and/or require a criminal records check via the Disclosure and Barring Service (“DBS”), or local equivalent, are exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (1974). For these Apprenticeship Programmes, the University requires disclosure of all convictions, including spent convictions, cautions and bind-over orders.

For such Apprenticeship Programmes, we ask about criminal convictions for the following reasons:

• To determine your suitability including to work in the professional environment associated with your Apprenticeship Programme. We also need to assess whether you would be able to undertake the mandatory work placements required as part of your Apprenticeship Programme.
• To carry out appropriate risk assessments to identify, assess and manage any potential risks to the University community.

For such Apprenticeship Programmes, you may also need to complete an enhanced criminal convictions check with the Disclosure and Barring Service, or equivalent process for overseas applicants, before you start. Depending on the arrangements that are in place for the Apprenticeship Programme, either the employer or the University may carry out this check. However, we ask you to self-declare at an earlier stage so that we have time to collect further information and assess the information provided as early as possible.

If you will undertake an Apprenticeship Programme that requires a DBS to be undertaken by the University, the information you provide at this stage will be used to assess your suitability to undertake your chosen Apprenticeship Programme, including placements involving regulated activity and, where relevant, to enable discussion in terms of meeting ‘Fitness to Practise’ criteria, ahead of applying for a DBS Enhanced Disclosure Certificate.

If the DBS check reveals that you have had a conviction, caution, reprimand, final warning or bind over, the University will need to assess your fitness to practise in the profession to which you have applied.

What happens if I declare a conviction?

If you declare a criminal conviction, we will ask you to provide further information and you have an obligation to do so.

Disclosure of relevant, unspent convictions will be considered by the University’s Risk Panel. For further information, refer to the University’s Risk Policy and Procedure for Applicants with Criminal Convictions.

Any disclosure is considered separately from the academic assessment of your application. You will have the opportunity to comment on our risk assessment.

Disclosure of convictions by applicants to Apprenticeship Programmes that require a DBS check will, where relevant, be considered by the University’s Risk Panel in the first instance. A Faculty Panel may also be used for assessing the suitability of applicants whose Self-Declaration Form contains information about offences, cautions, convictions or other matters or concerns. For further information on the current University DBS policy and procedure, please visit our Disclosure of Criminal Convictions webpage.

Possible outcomes

The University has the right to:

• Refuse enrolment at the University and/or to terminate a student’s contract where, following a risk assessment or professional suitability/DBS (or equivalent overseas) assessment the University’s decision is to refuse admission and study at the University.
• Impose conditions and/or restrictions on a student’s offer, admission, enrolment or study at the University to help manage any risks identified.

We may withhold enrolment and/or commencement at the University where a prospective student fails to provide appropriate information or pending a Risk Panel or professional suitability/DBS (or equivalent overseas) assessment.

What if I am convicted of a relevant criminal conviction at a later date?

As from acceptance of an offer to study with us, all prospective students (and students on an ongoing basis throughout their studies) must declare promptly any relevant criminal convictions. Students will be asked to provide information on any relevant convictions that have not already been disclosed to the University, at enrolment and re-enrolment each academic year. Please see our Disclosure of Criminal Convictions webpage for further guidance on relevant convictions.

Data protection for criminal conviction data

The University has conducted a specific Data Protection Impact Assessment which guides our processing of criminal conviction data. For information about how we use your personal data, our lawful bases for processing, our relevant retention and disposal periods, your applicable data subject rights and our contact information please see our Privacy Notices, including the Use of Conviction Data Privacy Notice and the main Privacy Notice for Students.

5. Professional Suitability and Fitness to Practise

Some Apprenticeship Programmes will require you to register with a professional, statutory or regulatory body and/or to practice under licence. It is your responsibility to ensure that all necessary declarations (including but not limited to criminal records, medical conditions, disabilities) are made to the University during the admissions process and during the period of study, and that you comply with all relevant rules and regulations during study including maintaining any licences, registrations or consents. The University will use reasonable endeavours to support students in attaining fitness to practise but accepts no responsibility in the event that a student is declared not fit for practise.

6. Changes to Apprenticeship Programme (and Other Changes)

The University will use all reasonable endeavours to deliver your Apprenticeship Programme in accordance with the content and learning plan agreed with your employer. However, the University is entitled to make reasonable changes to ensure the University delivers the best quality of educational experience to you.

Some examples of these changes include:

1. Keeping our Apprenticeship Programme content and delivery up-to-date and relevant. We may need to implement technical adjustments and/or improvements, for example: to reflect developments in academic teaching, research and/or professional standards/requirements; to address any external examiner feedback received as part of their annual reports and/or results from our regular student feedback sessions. We may make adjustments to: aspects of the curriculum – to ensure that this is current and reflects developments in the subject area; the methods of assessment, assessment weightings, and the word length of individual assignments; to reflect changes in the relevant Apprenticeship Standard and adjustments to the learning outcomes and how these are assessed;
2. Changes as a result of a programme review. It is standard practice for the University to undertake an annual performance review (Education Annual Review) of all of its taught provision in line with national, professional body and regulatory requirements. The aim of Education Annual Review is to ensure,  that the performance, academic standards and learning opportunities of existing Apprenticeship Programmes remain appropriate to the awards to which they lead. Programme review may also be triggered by changes to the Standard underpinning each Apprenticeship Programme. Programme review may result in certain changes to an Apprenticeship Programme. These changes will be made to enhance the quality of provision we provide to students;
3. To reflect changes in relevant laws, statutory, regulatory and/or professional body requirements and/or sector regulation;
4. Reviewing and refreshing optional modules. As indicated within our online prospectus the optional modules listed are indicative and may be subject to change. We do not guarantee that an optional module will always run in any given academic year, as options may be dependent on student choice, numbers and staff expertise;
5. Altering the location of the Apprenticeship Programme. For example, following campus consolidation to allow the University to provide the best facilities and academic provision for its students.
6. Changes to your mode and frequency of study, including but not limited to, moving between face to face and virtual provision where reasonably required.

In making any such changes, the University will aim to keep the changes to the minimum necessary to achieve the required quality of experience.

Sometimes circumstances may arise which are beyond the control of the University. Examples (without limitation) of such circumstances include:

• Industrial action by University staff or third parties;
• The unanticipated departure of key members of University staff or unavoidable specialist staff absence;
• Acts of terrorism or a security threat;
• Damage or interruption to buildings, facilities or equipment;
• Severe weather conditions; or
• The acts of any governmental or local authority (including but not limited to government or local authority imposed lockdowns or forced closures of the University campus or its facilities).

7. Intellectual Property

The University’s standard Intellectual Property Policy relating to the intellectual property rights of students will not apply to apprenticeship students and the position on ownership of intellectual property developed during your Apprenticeship Programme will be detailed within your written commitment statement.

8. Complaints

The University recognises there may be occasions where you wish to raise legitimate complaints relating to your Apprenticeship Programme, or the facilities and services provided by the University. The University has in place a Student Complaints Procedure, which details procedures and parameters for making a complaint, alongside what action may be taken in response to complaints, which we refer to in further detail in Section B.

If, having exhausted all stages of the University’s internal complaints procedure, a student considers that the University has failed to consider and respond to their complaint appropriately, the student can refer their complaint to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education, which provides an independent scheme for the review of student complaints.

The employer and the apprentice may at any time contact the National Apprenticeship Helpdesk (further detail is provided within the commitment statement) regarding apprenticeship concerns, complaints and enquiries although the University consider that this should be a last resort and encourages apprentices and employers to discuss any issues with their key contact (as set out in the commitment statement) directly.

9. Data Protection

Whilst you are studying with us, the University will hold and process your personal data including some data defined as special category. For example, we will process the personal data you provide in your application form to register you for study, retain your contact details, record information about your eligibility to undertake the Apprenticeship Programme, administer the financial aspects of the Apprenticeship Programme and maintain information about your progress on the Apprenticeship Programme such as attendance data and academic results. This information is processed in order to enable the University to comply with its contractual obligation to deliver, manage and administer your Apprenticeship Programme. More detailed information about how we will use the personal information you provide to us can be found in our Privacy Notice for Students.

The University will be the Controller in respect of the personal data we hold and use about you whilst you are studying with us. We process all personal data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (“UK GDPR”), the Data Protection Act 2018 and our Data Protection Policy. The University is registered as a Controller with the Office of the Information Commissioner.

You acknowledge that the University and the employer will each process your Personal Data, including special category Personal Data, as defined in the Data Protection Act 2018 (as may be amended), relating to you for our respective legal, personnel, administrative and management purposes, and transferring such Personal Data to the other for the purposes of management and administration of the Apprenticeship. For example, you acknowledge that the University will share details on attendance, progress, or any issues arising during the Apprenticeship Programme, with your employer.

In addition, the University is required to share your information with the ESFA (who may transfer your information to other government agencies or to bodies or agencies of the European Commission). You acknowledge that the ESFA or their delegate may contact you directly in relation to the Apprenticeship. Further detail about how the ESFA processes apprenticeship data is available in their privacy policy. For the avoidance of doubt, the University may also share your personal data with government agencies in order to allow the University to comply with any funding requirements relating to its provision of the Apprenticeship.

You have certain rights in relation to your personal data including the right to request access and in certain cases the right to request that your data is erased or rectified or that processing of your data is restricted. Your rights as a data subject are explained within our Privacy Notice for Students and Data Subjects’ Rights. For further information about the retention and secure destruction of your personal data please refer to the University’s Retention and Disposal Schedule.

Examination pass lists and/or degree classifications may be published. If you do not wish your results to be published in this way, you must notify the Director of Student Management stating your reasons in writing by no later than seven days before you complete your examination or assessment. Your reasons will be considered and, where it is felt that publication of your results is likely to cause substantial damage or substantial distress and that this would be unwarranted, publication will be withheld.

You are obliged to provide the University with up-to-date contact details and you will be responsible for maintaining the accuracy of this information whilst studying with the University.

10. How We May End Your Registration at the University

We may end your registration at the University on notice to you (such notice as may be appropriate having followed any relevant University policies or procedures but where the circumstances dictate, immediate notice) or may withdraw your offer, or decline to register you as a student as a result of:

• Us becoming aware that information you have provided to us is untrue, inaccurate, incomplete and/or misleading and/or at any point becomes untrue, inaccurate, incomplete and/or misleading;
• You failing to comply with your obligations as a student as set out above and below or within our regulations, policies and procedures;
• You failing to comply with requests for information, to make declarations and/or to meet specific requirements of your Apprenticeship Programme as specified in the Offer Letter or this document;
• Your circumstances changing so that we are no longer required to deliver the training. Examples include (but are not limited to) where you are no longer employed by your employer or where our contract with your employer ceases to apply. Your relationship with us will end if you cancel or withdraw. The ESFA confirms how a change in circumstances should be managed. A change in circumstance generally means a situation that affects the ability of an apprentice to complete their apprenticeship;
• You failing to meet the requirements to register for your Apprenticeship Programme or failing to re-register in subsequent years within the required timescale;
• Following disciplinary action under our Student Code of Conduct;
• You failing to meet the minimum academic and/or professional performance requirements that are set out in the University’s Assessment Regulations and other applicable regulatory documents.

11. How You May End Your Registration at the University

Your registration with us will end if you formally withdraw. Find further information on withdrawing from your studies in the Student Transfer, Suspension and Withdrawal Policy. Please ensure that you discuss any plan to withdraw with your employer directly and notify the Apprenticeships Unit.

12. Law

You and we both agree that the English courts will have non-exclusive jurisdiction over any claims