Why did you choose a Degree Apprenticeship?

I started my role as a community assessment officer approximately five years ago, after the first year it clicked that this  was something I wanted to progress in. I was interested in becoming a qualified social worker so I can develop myself and progress my career. 

Working alongside the Social Worker’s in the hospital integrated discharge team, seeing how passionate they were towards service users made me interested in understanding the ethos of social care. When I found out that my employer was offering the Degree Apprenticeship opportunity it sparked further interest and made me consider if this was the right move for me. 

I applied for the apprenticeship in 2019 via an application which followed up with a case study and face to face interview. Unfortunately I was not successful in the interview process but was given positive feedback which enhanced my belief that I could do it successfully should the opportunity arise again. In January 2020, the post was advertised again with the same process application, case study and interview. This time I was selected and was successful.

Looking back over your time (so far), how have you found the whole experience?

For me, the experience has been difficult as academic learning is not a strong point of mine, but my determination, in showing my children that hard work pays off, has kept me motivated. 

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the University has switched to online learning, which has been hard to get into and I experienced some anxieties in relation to this, as this was a new experience for me and in my view, not suited to my learning style. In addition, I had concerns as to how I would be able to remain focused without peer support. 

Prior to commencing the programme, I had never completed an assignment and I began to think that I was on the back-foot and way behind my peers when starting the course. As the days got closer for the online learning I was getting more and more stressed about how I would cope. 

All my fears passed after the first lecture when I met my tutor, Pauline, who made me feel calm and showed us how we are all in this together and we can work through this together. Within this positive environment and with the focus on positive thinking, I feel was able to get used to online learning. I was able to develop a focused mindset and this helped me to utilise my university and study days to learn and understand the content and also complete the necessary research. 

I have found comfort from peer support not only in my team but also with other apprentices in the course and I feel this is reflected in my course marks which have kept me motivated and given me confidence in my abilities. 

How has your Degree Apprenticeship helped supported your career progression?

Completing the Degree Apprenticeship will enable me to visit other teams and understand their role in the social care puzzle and how it all fits in the service users journey. 

Having the degree will hopefully give me the confidence to better challenge inequalities that I come across. 

In time as I develop and gain the relevant experience, I do hope that once qualified and with sufficient experience, I would like to become a Practice Educator and, in some way, give back the positive experience and learning I have experienced. Due to my experiences, I feel that I am likely to be in a good position to support students in the future and will be able to draw on and share my student journey, which will allow me to pass on my knowledge and experience to enable them to progress.

What impact has your Degree Apprenticeship had on the organisation?

The impact on my team of me doing the apprenticeship has been significant. Being in an integrated team with a Health Manager, previously no consideration was given to a service user journey and often little consideration was given to how certain decisions would impact their life. 

Due to my new learning and understanding my fortnightly supervisions with my manager has enabled me to raise concerns and issues around the practice, process and work in general. I feel this has enabled my Manager to better understand the social work values and knowledge in respect of specific cases and I hope this has helped with achieving better outcomes for people. 

I also feel my manager now better understands the need and reasons for people to require additional time within the hospital setting to minimise and avoid further risk when being discharged home. 

I feel this has been a positive impact on my practice and that of the team in general. As through my learning, it has made me more aware of the risk and enabled me to provide my manager with evidenced-based information to support the decisions made in respect of the people we support. 

Would you recommend a Degree Apprenticeship?

I would recommend this course to those who wish to progress themselves and acquire a professional qualification to aide themselves in their careers. I have so far found it to be an extremely worthwhile experience and would recommend it to anyone wishing to improve their ability to support individuals.

It is worth it!

Do you have any advice for future Degree Apprentices?

The apprenticeship programme is quite intense and requires a lot of hard work, therefore it is essential that you try to be as organised and committed as possible. If you have access to support from peers and colleagues, you will need to access and use this as much as you can. If you have access to study time, you need to be focused and maximise this and use it appropriately.

From my perspective accessing opportunities to learn, be mentored, accessing advice and support from peers and colleagues has been extremely valuable. I’ve found this to be very useful and important, even if it is just motivational support. I have also found that accessing and seeking regular constructive feedback from my managers, mentors and peers has also been really useful as it has enabled me to better understand my own abilities and difficulties. This has then allowed me to consider the positives and negatives of my practice and consider what and how to improve on these.