Tutelage in the office: how the UK, Singapore and India bring apprenticeship into knowledge work

Apprenticeship used to mean trades: carpentry, plumbing, machining. Over the past decade, several countries have deliberately extended learning through tutelage into offices: software, finance, digital marketing, data and management. This article looks at three national efforts and what they suggest for companies that want to grow early talent in knowledge work.

United Kingdom: degree apprenticeships and the levy

England launched degree apprenticeships in 2015 ^[1]. Apprentices are employed and paid, spend part of their time studying with a university, and finish with a full bachelor's or master's degree, typically with tuition paid by the employer and government rather than the learner ^[1]. Standards exist for roles such as software developer, data scientist and chartered manager ^[1].

Funding changed in April 2017 with the Apprenticeship Levy: employers with an annual pay bill above £3 million pay 0.5 percent of it into an account they can spend on apprenticeship training ^[2]. The policy has been debated. Government statistics show apprenticeship starts fell after the levy arrived, with a shift toward higher-level and older apprentices ^[3], which raises a fair question about whether young people with the least experience benefit most.

Singapore: Work-Study for new graduates

Singapore's SkillsFuture Work-Study Programme, which began in 2015 as the Earn and Learn Programme, places fresh graduates from polytechnics and the Institute of Technical Education with employers ^[4]. Participants are hired and paid while following a structured on-the-job training plan, with employers receiving support for the training they provide ^[4]. The programme covers sectors such as ICT, finance, healthcare and engineering ^[4].

India: sharing the cost of the stipend

India's National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS), launched in 2016, encourages employers to take on apprentices by sharing part of each apprentice's stipend through government support ^[5]. It explicitly includes service-sector and optional trades, not just traditional manufacturing apprenticeships ^[5].

What the three have in common

• -The learner is employed and paid, not volunteering.
• -Training is planned, with a written standard or plan rather than ad hoc shadowing.
• -Cost is shared, so employers are not asked to carry everything alone.
• -The result is recognized through a degree, certificate or completion record.

Not every company can run a multi-year degree program. Shorter models apply the same ideas to individual projects: Altᵗ is one example, pairing paid apprentices with a Mentor on a company's real knowledge-work project and documenting what they did.