The CIOT have joined with PwC and others to launch a level 6/7 Higher Apprenticeship in tax. The apprenticeship will bring apprentices up to the CTA professional standard and equip them to pass the CTA exams.
The programme is the second part of the government’s £25m Higher Apprenticeship Fund to support the development of 4,230 new Higher Apprenticeships across business and industry announced on 22 June. PwC will lead the development of a new Higher Apprenticeship framework, focusing on tax, audit and accounting as a route to chartered qualification status.
It is the first time this level of qualification, equivalent to degree level with a route to chartered status has been made available in any sector. Higher Apprenticeships allow people to pursue degree level study while getting paid, widening access routes and helping to widen participation.
Alongside the CTA exams which apprentices in the scheme will work up to, a newly developed QCF (Qualifications and Credit Framework) qualification will provide the business skills required to succeed in the profession.
Readers may be aware that the CIOT’s sister body, the Association of Taxation Technicians, have been working with PwC and others on a level 4 Higher Apprenticeship which will raise apprentices to ATT professional standard. The first apprentices under the level 4 scheme will start in September 2012.
CIOT and ATT both support efforts to increase the number of people from non-privileged backgrounds entering tax advice, accountancy, law and other professions and supported the launch of a new Social Mobility Toolkit for the Professions earlier this year.
Over the next six months, PwC will work with CIOT and other bodies, education providers and employers to develop the curriculum. The framework will be issued in March 2013, and it is expected that the programme will deliver 600 Higher Apprenticeships across the professional services sector and beyond by March 2015.
For the Government, Skills Minister John Hayes MP said:
"By radically increasing the number of degree level apprenticeships we are putting practical learning on a level footing with academic study. Doing an apprenticeship should be one of the best gateways to university-level study. Through the Higher Apprenticeship Fund we are creating 25,000 places for young people to take degree-equivalent Higher Apprenticeships.”
George Crozier
CIOT External Relations Manager
Thursday 28 June 2012
