Kaplan

Kaplan saw the benefits that apprentices delivered for their clients and decided to do the same with their own recruitment programme.

“It makes sense to practice what we preach,” says Hannah, the organisation’s Recruitment Manager, “We have eight Chartered Manager degree apprentices and they all work in different areas of the business.”

Degree apprentices are with the company for four and a half years, rotating through various departments, building a well-rounded and thorough picture of operations. This all fits around occasional teaching sessions on campus and digital learning outside of work hours.

“Our team worked with Aston to plan the programme and what this would look like, as well as what we would need to offer as an employer,” says Hannah.“Once this was planned, the recruitment began. The process was relatively straightforward.” 

The recruitment process ended with two assessments days. Narrowing the candidates down was tough as the company had a number of very strong applicants.

The introduction of the apprenticeship levy kick-started Kaplan’s relationship with degree apprenticeships. The company is now investing heavily in this sort of professional training.

“We have apprentices across the business but had never taken on degree apprentices. With apprenticeships being such a large part of the Kaplan business, we see the value that they can bring and how they offer a real alternative to the traditional university route, with the same outcome and experience to go with it. It was a huge draw for us.”