Degree apprenticeships in New Zealand: building for success

A new route to a cap and gown that starts on a building site, in a classroom, or in a clinic

New Zealand's tertiary education organisations (TEOs) have long been adept at issuing degrees, employers have long complained that they do not always produce job-ready graduates. A small but growing cadre of degree apprenticeships aims to change that.

In essence, degree apprenticeships fuse the lecture theatre with the workplace. Apprentices are employees first and students second, or rather, both at once. They earn a salary while working towards a degree, with much of their learning embedded in the day job.

There are a surprising range of existing models

Three existing models have already shown the concept's scope.

• The Bachelor of Engineering Technology (Infrastructure Asset Management) equips students with the technical, analytical and project-management skills needed to plan, maintain and renew the physical assets that underpin infrastructure networks. Delivered through a work-integrated pathway, it covers civil engineering principles, asset lifecycle management, data analysis and sustainability.

  Apprentices apply what they learn directly to their employer's projects, whether inspecting roads, modelling stormwater systems, or developing long-term renewal plans. Some complete the first two years, and the related New Zealand Diploma in Engineering (Civil), on campus before transitioning into the apprenticeship-based final year embedded in a workplace.

• Teach First NZ takes a very different tack. It is an intensive, employment-based programme that recruits high-achieving graduates to work in secondary schools serving low-decile communities. Participants begin teaching from day one, completing a postgraduate teaching qualification alongside their classroom duties.

  The programme's mission is explicitly social, to address educational inequity by placing skilled, committed teachers where they are most needed. Over two years, participants are mentored by experienced teachers, supported by academic study, and expected to deliver measurable gains in student achievement, all while being paid as full-time teachers.

• Programmes leading to the award of master's degrees in areas like nursing or clinical psychology take yet another approach. These integrate extensive in-work practicums while participants remain in employment.

  In nurse practitioner training, for example, registered nurses undertake advanced study while continuing to work in hospitals, clinics or community settings. Their clinical placements are embedded within their current roles, allowing them to apply advanced diagnostic, prescribing and case management skills in real time. This model combines the academic rigour of postgraduate study with the continuity of patient care, building the leadership capacity needed in a health workforce under strain.

And a new wave is arriving

A new wave, backed by ConCOVE Tūhura, is pushing the model into other professional domains.

• The Bachelor of Architectural Technology would see apprentices employed by architecture or design firms, producing drawings, building information models and design support work while studying architectural theory and technical practice.

• The Bachelor of Construction Management targets aspiring site or project managers. Apprentices employed by construction companies learn scheduling, site supervision, and contract management on the job while completing academic modules in construction law, project management, and building technology.

• The New Zealand Diploma of Quantity Surveying is being tailored for trainee quantity surveyors and cost estimators working for contractors or consultancies, combining tasks such as estimating, tender preparation and cost control with study in measurement, contracts and finance.

Separate from the ConCOVE pilots, Otago Polytechnic's Bachelor of Occupational Therapy adds a healthcare twist, with apprentices employed in healthcare and community settings while studying to become registered occupational therapists. They learn to assess and support clients in real-world environments such as hospitals, rehabilitation centres, schools and community organisations, while completing the academic requirements for professional registration.

A comparable model is being rolled out at the University of Waikato. The Master of Clinical Practice (Midwifery) allows registered health professionals with a Bachelor's degree to remain in their roles while training to become a midwife.

Despite the complexities

Such hybrids are harder to run than traditional academic programmes. It is easy enough to bolt on an industry project or a capstone course to an existing degree, much harder to knit work and study into a single, coherent experience. Professional-registration rules for clinical placements, intended to assure quality and status, can also act as a ceiling rather than a floor, limiting scope for innovation rather than encouraging it.

Practical employer concerns are also at the fore. Many firms want apprentices to arrive with some basic technical knowledge, rather than learning entirely from scratch on the payroll. Others worry about committing to stable, multi-year employment contracts in volatile sectors. This has encouraged flexible pathways, allowing students to complete the first two years of study and the relevant diploma through traditional on-campus or online delivery before transitioning into an apprenticeship-based final year.

Which have been overcome overseas

Whatever the solutions, the benefits for businesses are significant - 99% say that degree apprenticeships improve staff performance, 89% credit them with improving staff retention and 84% say they play a role in diversifying their workforce.

That may explain why internationally the concept of degree-level apprenticeships has taken root in diverse contexts.

• In the United Kingdom, they now span sectors from accounting to nursing to nuclear submarine engineering.

• In France, alternance programmes combine study and work across a wide swathe of the economy including engineering, commerce and health.

• In Germany, the dual study system enables students to complete degrees in a wide range of fields through apprenticeship-based learning.

• In the United States, teaching apprenticeships are available in 40 states and gaining traction in healthcare and technology are gaining traction.

The model is also making gains in Australia with several programmes already underway. Earlier this year, the Australian government also confirmed the requirements for vocational degrees. These are work-based undergraduate degrees developed under the guidance of Jobs and Skills Councils, which are analogues to New Zealand's Industry Skills Boards.

And Australian Ministers and senior officials are beavering away on the development of a framework to support higher-level apprenticeships. This work is being supported by a serious effort to promote harmonisation of vocational and higher education.

Keeping pace with our nearest neighbours isn’t just another opportunity for trans-Tasman rivalry, leading practitioners internationally have commented that multi-national firms are increasingly expecting to be able to access these kinds of workforce development solutions where-ever they operate.

While each system differs in governance and funding, all show that well-designed hybrids can thrive when employers, educators and regulators align around the model. Whether New Zealand can match that success and ambition will depend on balancing regulatory constraints, employer appetite and the realities of its smaller labour market.

For now, a handful of apprentices might discover that the fastest route to a mortarboard may involve wearing a hard hat first.