MBA Degree Apprenticeship wins ‘Course of the Year’ at Teaching Awards 2019

The MBA Degree Apprenticeship now hosts a cohort of 75 senior managers from over 40 employers

Just eighteen months after launching, the Master of Business Administration (MBA) Degree Apprenticeship has become a firm favourite with apprentices and was named ‘Course of the Year’ at Manchester Metropolitan University’s Student’s Union annual Teaching Awards.

The winners of each of the 11 awards were chosen from over 1000 nominations, by a panel of students, Union staff and representatives from the University’s teaching community. 

The MBA Degree Apprenticeship launched its ground-breaking programme in spring 2018 and now hosts a cohort of 75 senior managers from over 40 employers. The programme, developed by Manchester Met and aligned with the Senior Leader Master’s Degree Apprenticeship standard, is enabling employers to utilise apprenticeship funding to provide higher-level training for experienced managers looking to progress even further.

Manchester Met is the UK’s leading provider of management degree apprenticeships and is part of an elite group of AACSB-accredited global business schools that also hold the coveted AMBA accreditation for their MBA programmes.

Dr Tom Scanlon, Deputy Head of The University’s Department of People and Performance, said: “We are delighted with the impact that the MBA Degree Apprenticeship is having on its students and are extremely pleased that our work has been recognised by the Teaching Awards panel. We are very lucky to be working with such talented and enthusiastic apprentices, who work hard to balance the demands of their jobs with their studies here at the University. It is very rewarding to know that they think so highly of the course.”

Frances McDonnell of Art Graphics UK describes how the MBA Degree apprenticeship has already helped her business: “Every single piece of work is implemented straight back into the business, which is completely invaluable. As a result of the leadership unit I made some staffing changes within the business and have already seen improvements in sales and employee engagement”. 

Neil Dunthorne, Aerospace and Defence Director at Morson International has been with his employer for over 20 years, and is really seeing the benefits of returning to study, as part of an apprenticeship.

“The programme is exciting, challenging and very demanding, but I’m applying the course daily and have had a significant mind-set change as a result. The mix of people on the course has been excellent and the different viewpoints you get are fantastic. I now believe that degree apprenticeships will make a massive difference to UK business.”

Manchester Metropolitan University is one of the UK’s leading specialists in degree apprenticeship education, with more than 1,200 apprentices enrolled on programmes from over 200 different employers.

Find out more about the University’s apprenticeship programmes.