Higher apprenticeships make their mark

The number of AMOS Associates now on higher apprenticeships have increased from one to four with students on apprenticeship schemes with Dyson (2019), KPMG, Goldman Sachs and Salesforce (2021). The students, Michael, Elijah, Kwesi and Rueben, have set up a Higher Apprentice WhatsApp group where they share knowledge and information and support each other on their journeys.

Elijah Olanipekun is a functional consultant apprentice at Salesforce, the largest customerrelationship management software provider globally.

He said: ‘I decided to go down the route of a degree apprenticeship because I wanted to have the exposure of being in a professional environment, gain valuable, transferable skills and still get the academic rigour and knowledge offered by a degree. This was very different compared to what many of my peers did at the time, which was to go down the traditional university route.’ There are many ways that the Amos Bursary has supported my journey as an apprentice. One of those ways was with providing mentoring support for me. The mentor I was given understood my scenario well and I appreciated his efforts to make time to meet on a regular basis and to offer insightful suggestions to me. The Bursary has also tried to recognise the different professional challenges we face compared to some of our peers and has successfully helped us to overcome some of them.