New chief at CU Coventry to lead apprenticeships
CU Coventry, formerly known as Coventry University College, has appointed a new chief operating officer who will be leading an ambitious apprenticeships strategy.
Aidan Friend has taken over the role and is focusing on developing the CU Coventry’s apprenticeships programme.
CU Coventry has an ambition to become the biggest provider of higher and degree apprenticeships, which allow students to earn a fulltime wage and study for higher level qualifications at the same time.
This challenging target comes as the new Apprenticeship Levy is due to be launched by government in April 2017 which will be used to fund apprenticeships and will be paid by employers with an annual pay bill of more than £3 million.
Mr Friend already has a vast amount of experience within the Coventry University Group and joins from Coventry University Services, where he was involved with the delivery of teaching English as a foreign language.
He is now looking forward to the challenges ahead as the new apprenticeships policy is implemented.
He said: “Developing our apprenticeship offering will be my primary focus, and we want to become the number one provider of higher and degree apprenticeships.
“A new policy around apprenticeships was announced by the government in 2015, so it’s very much an emerging thing.
“I have already had meetings in London to get under the skin of what they are trying to achieve so that we can meet these aims as well as our own.
“We have various markets to talk to, including those individuals looking into apprenticeships, employers who will be paying the levy and have a real financial driver and non-levy payers who are eligible for enhanced government training subsidies to employ apprentices.
“We will also be looking at what we already offer and how this can be developed, not just at CU Coventry, but across the whole group.”
With the launch of the Coventry University Group’s newest campus CU London, due to open in the new 2017 academic year, Mr Friend added that he will also be looking at expansion plans.
He said: “Another focus of mine will be the group’s expansion plans. CU Coventry has a vocational and student-centred approach which will be replicated at CU London.
“I will be looking at this as well as any future expansion plans that may arise. I’m really looking forward to the new way of working that is pioneered by CU Coventry, with a flexibility and speed that excites me.”
CU Coventry offers more voca- tionally-based courses, with flexible learning options and no end of year exams, with the aim of providing a high quality learning solution, while also allowing students to fit studying around their busy lifestyles.
In addition to this it also offers lower tuition fees to other comparable institutes helping to make higher education affordable.