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Gosling S1
1The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, Practice & Development, London, United Kingdom
Background: The apprenticeships agenda has escalated in the UK, particularly in England, since 2016, with the passage of the Enterprise Act. Apprenticeships at all educational levels are being promoted as a key route for skills development across all parts of the economy. Employers with a payroll of over £3 million a year now pay an apprenticeship levy, enabling them to invest in their workforce, while universities are encouraged to respond to workforce development needs through providing degree apprenticeships.
Purpose: The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) recognised the importance of engaging with the apprenticeship agenda as new policies, structures and processes emerged. It focused on seeking to ensure apprenticeships were developed in ways that would safeguard the quality and relevance of apprentices' educational experience and outcomes and therefore the quality of professional education, practice and patient care. Key CSP motivations were also to grow workforce supply and enhance access to learning, entry to the profession, and opportunities for professional development.
Methods: The CSP formulated its position and actively influenced apprenticeship developments with the potential to contribute to physiotherapy workforce development at all levels. To strengthen its influence, the CSP also undertook work with the other allied health professions. It led collaborative activity to influence and input to the progression of a fast-paced agenda, including to ensure that professional body perspectives on educational standards were heard, understood and shaped how apprenticeships for the professions were defined.
Results: The CSP has gained a significant influence over apprenticeship developments since 2016. Achievements have included securing CSP accreditation as a condition of the physiotherapist degree apprenticeship being delivered; a government rule change such that healthcare degree apprenticeships can be delivered at either BSc(Hons) or Master's degree level (reflecting UK entry routes for physiotherapy over the last 20 years); and changes and funding to ensure that the advanced clinical practitioner apprenticeship meets physiotherapy workforce development needs across sectors, settings and roles.
Conclusion(s): Engagement in the apprenticeship agenda has become a significant component of broader CSP activity to expedite physiotherapy workforce supply and development, in a context of expansion and increasing diversity. The newness of the apprenticeship model - in healthcare, higher education and at degree level - has presented challenges for all parties. However, it has enabled the CSP to demonstrate leadership in optimising different approaches to learning and its funding, and to assert professional education requirements in ways that have ensured clarity and a focus on learning outcomes.
Implications: Apprenticeships have the potential to enable physiotherapy workforce development through a different approach to learning and a new funding model, opening up skills development for support workers, a new route into the profession, and creating new support to sustain physiotherapists' progression into advanced practice roles. On-going activity is focused on supporting employer, practitioner and higher education engagement in implementing apprenticeships. This includes through leading thinking on the nature of practice-based learning and learning progression within apprenticeships, and exploring the potential for a doctoral level non-medical consultant apprenticeship.
Keywords: Apprenticeships, Workforce development, Educational quality
Funding acknowledgements: The work outlined was undertaken using the corporate budget of the CSP and in line with the CSP´s corporate strategy.
Purpose: The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) recognised the importance of engaging with the apprenticeship agenda as new policies, structures and processes emerged. It focused on seeking to ensure apprenticeships were developed in ways that would safeguard the quality and relevance of apprentices' educational experience and outcomes and therefore the quality of professional education, practice and patient care. Key CSP motivations were also to grow workforce supply and enhance access to learning, entry to the profession, and opportunities for professional development.
Methods: The CSP formulated its position and actively influenced apprenticeship developments with the potential to contribute to physiotherapy workforce development at all levels. To strengthen its influence, the CSP also undertook work with the other allied health professions. It led collaborative activity to influence and input to the progression of a fast-paced agenda, including to ensure that professional body perspectives on educational standards were heard, understood and shaped how apprenticeships for the professions were defined.
Results: The CSP has gained a significant influence over apprenticeship developments since 2016. Achievements have included securing CSP accreditation as a condition of the physiotherapist degree apprenticeship being delivered; a government rule change such that healthcare degree apprenticeships can be delivered at either BSc(Hons) or Master's degree level (reflecting UK entry routes for physiotherapy over the last 20 years); and changes and funding to ensure that the advanced clinical practitioner apprenticeship meets physiotherapy workforce development needs across sectors, settings and roles.
Conclusion(s): Engagement in the apprenticeship agenda has become a significant component of broader CSP activity to expedite physiotherapy workforce supply and development, in a context of expansion and increasing diversity. The newness of the apprenticeship model - in healthcare, higher education and at degree level - has presented challenges for all parties. However, it has enabled the CSP to demonstrate leadership in optimising different approaches to learning and its funding, and to assert professional education requirements in ways that have ensured clarity and a focus on learning outcomes.
Implications: Apprenticeships have the potential to enable physiotherapy workforce development through a different approach to learning and a new funding model, opening up skills development for support workers, a new route into the profession, and creating new support to sustain physiotherapists' progression into advanced practice roles. On-going activity is focused on supporting employer, practitioner and higher education engagement in implementing apprenticeships. This includes through leading thinking on the nature of practice-based learning and learning progression within apprenticeships, and exploring the potential for a doctoral level non-medical consultant apprenticeship.
Keywords: Apprenticeships, Workforce development, Educational quality
Funding acknowledgements: The work outlined was undertaken using the corporate budget of the CSP and in line with the CSP´s corporate strategy.
Topic: Education; Professional issues
Ethics approval required: No
Institution: N/A
Ethics committee: N/A
Reason not required: The work outlined comprised activity to progress developments in education, workforce development and influencing activity. The abstract reflects a narrative review of the activity and the learning that can be drawn from this.
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
