Young engineers can now take a vocational route all the way to a degree, thanks to a new partnership between In-Comm Training (www.in-comm.co.uk) and the University of Wolverhampton.

HNC Higher Apprenticeships were launched last month in the West Midlands, and they have already attracted 20 people who are looking for a more practical route to gaining the highest-possible competences and qualifications.

The HNC element of the programme is an intensive year-long course, which can be funded by the Apprenticeship Levy; it features 12 technical modules, with the learning being delivered at In-Comm’s ‘state of the art’ technical academy in Aldridge and the university’s dedicated engineering campus.

The competence element of the programme runs alongside, with the learner producing a portfolio of evidence.

Participants on the course have the opportunity to focus their learning through elements such as engineering and manufacture, design, research, business improvement techniques and new product development.

In-Comm Training managing director Bekki Phillips said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for young people and more mature workers to gain competences and technical skills that will provide an accelerated pathway to higher education and career progression.

For the first time, someone who has completed a Level 2 or Level 3 Engineering Apprenticeship can accelerate their learning by completing the HNC Higher Apprenticeship that will then lead to their Degree Apprenticeship.

This ultimately means that from starting an apprenticeship at 16, you could have the equivalent of a degree by the time you are 22 — better still, you have six years of on-the-job training and experience, with no tuition fees to pay.”