Celebrations as Business School Hits Degree Apprenticeship Century

posted by Ian Richards | 22/05/2019

Management degree apprenticeships designed to help employers grow their own leadership talent have welcomed their 100th apprentice less than two years after they were launched in the business school at the University of Lincoln.

The Chartered Management Degree Apprenticeship (CMDA) and Senior Leader Master’s Degree Apprenticeship (SLMDA) at Lincoln International Business School are enabling employers across a range of industries to develop their in-house management teams using the Apprenticeship Levy.

These work-based learning programmes are designed to be flexible and accessible for professionals to combine part-time study with their careers, comprising a balance of on and off-the-job training. On successful completion, apprentices can graduate with a degree level qualification, including the prestigious Masters of Business Administration (MBA) in Leadership.

Sarah Chester-Buckley became the 100th apprentice at the Lincoln International Business School when she joined the latest group of managers on the SLMDA in May.

Sarah joined her current employer United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust at Pilgrim Hospital, in her hometown of Boston, Lincolnshire, as a YTS Student Pharmacy Technician, as a teenager more than 25 years ago. She then went on to work in Pharmaceutical Research before returning to the NHS. Sarah re-joined United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust in 1996, working at Lincoln County Hospital, and three years ago she returned to Pilgrim Hospital to lead the Pharmacy team as the Operations Manager.

Sarah, who has never previously studied at university, said “I can’t believe how amazing the university experience has been already. When I was at school we only had one BBC computer – when I walked into the state of the art library on campus I was just amazed. The technology on offer for our learning journey is just fantastic, and the building is stunning. There is a real vibe around campus – it just makes you want to learn!”

Both the CMDA and SLMDA are ‘trailblazer’ apprenticeships created by the Chartered Management Institute, the Chartered Association of Business Schools and higher education providers. Lincoln’s CMDA (Level 6) is underpinned by the BA (Hons) Professional Practice in Leadership and Management degree; while the Senior Leader Master’s Degree Apprenticeship (Level 7) is based on Lincoln’s part-time MBA Leadership.