First management degree apprentices celebrate success

The first cohort of a pioneering University of Chester degree apprenticeship has set the bar high with top grades achieved across the board.

The students completing the Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship (CMDA) have all gained Distinctions and Merits in their End Point Assessment after being awarded Firsts and Upper Seconds in their degrees.

They have overcome challenges posed by COVID-19, in both their workplaces and studies, to excel and look forward to a bright future.

The University was one of the very first to launch the CMDA in September 2016, enabling people to earn while they learn. Run by the University’s highly acclaimed Centre for Work Related Studies, in collaboration with the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) and the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), the course provides the opportunity to work in some of the region’s leading organisations while studying.

Uniquely in the UK, apprentices who complete the course at Chester not only gain a BA (Hons) in Business Management and Leadership, but also the highly valued ILM Diploma at Level 4, 5 and 6, as well as the achievement of Chartered Manager status.

Having attained outstanding degree results in 2020 - seven First Class and two Upper Seconds - the students registered 100% End Point Assessment success this year, with more than half achieving Distinctions and all others a Merit.

Bob Meakin, Programme Leader for the CMDA at the University of Chester said: “These results are truly excellent and, in the context of COVID, quite remarkable.

“The first cohort are a credit to themselves, to their employers, to their tutors and mentors, and to the University as a whole. I wish them all the success they deserve in their future careers.”

Student Emilia Hoyle added: “It is with great pride, I have completed my Chartered Management Degree Apprenticeship, and receiving a First and Distinction makes all the hard work worth it.

“The skills and experience I have gained during the course have enhanced the quality of my work and I have developed as a person. My degree has catapulted me to the next level of my career.”

Pictured - Chartered Management Degree Apprenticeship students celebrating their success at ILM Level 5 with staff in July 2019.