It’s almost four years since a standard was approved for a Level 7 Curator apprenticeship in the UK, this means a group of industry professionals wrote and got approved what this qualification should contain and is ready for delivery by training providers including Universities. We spent many months staring at the webpage, wondering how to design something that could make a real impact.
What is an apprenticeship?
The UK government brought these in as new vocational qualifications where you work and study at the same time, and they pay 95% or 100% of the fees. They go from Level 1 (GCSE equivalent) to Level 7 (master’s degree corresponding), and they are approved as either integrated, so they automatically come with a degree, or not integrated.
Why integrate?
We still aren’t sure why some level 6 or 7 standards aren’t integrated, however in our sector it is expected that curators have a master’s degree. As our mission is to widen access and address inequality, we decided it must be an MA Curating as well, especially as the levels are not widely understood or referred to. As a university, we can award these degrees as well as the Level 7 Higher Apprenticeship if we write into the design.