Sarah, Senior Recruitment and Development Specialist for Apprenticeships at WSP
We’ve worked with the University of Exeter for several years and our overall experience has been very positive; our ongoing relationship with the Apprenticeships Team and Faculty Leads at Exeter has been good.
Exeter’s strengths are not just in their course content, which is at a very high standard and sets apprentices up well for attaining their professional qualification, but also a huge strength is their communication with their employers which is what sets them apart from other learning providers that we use.
As well as being supportive, the University of Exeter is quick to respond to any issues we’ve had and has a thorough approach. I really must praise our course lead key contacts at Exeter, as no matter how small the issue has been, they’ve immediately set up a meeting or addressed the issue fully over email. This has been completed much quicker than I’d expect a university to respond.
Around the last few months particularly, Exeter has been a standout provider due to its flexibility of being able to move content online and maintain contact with students while they are studying from home. This has been a seamless process and we’ve had lots of positive responses from our learners.
Having Degree Apprentices has a lot of benefits for the organisation, it means we can take apprentices on that journey to professional registration quickly. It’s also great for the apprentices themselves who can study at an advanced level at a highly thought of university. It is also a more inclusive route to get those candidates into the industry who may not have otherwise taken the traditional university route.
Not only have Exeter provided excellent course content and training provision in a flexible way that is easy for employers to get to grips with, our apprentices have also seen a variety of unexpected successes. For example, some of our apprentices have been awarded the Exeter’s Dean Commendation Award and others have been nominated for the Institution of Civil Engineers South West Apprentice of the Year Award, which speaks to the level of guidance and support offered by Exeter.
Overall, the University of Exeter is exceptional and is one of our top providers; there’s not much to offer in terms of room for improvement. I would 100% recommend Exeter to other employers and have already done so with several colleagues in the industry.
