A new government, a new approach to education

Fortunately, I now have a weapon I can use in return. According to Lord Wharton, the outgoing chair of the Office for Students, my kids profited from “a Golden Age of Higher Education” – an age which, he says, has now been ended by Brexit, the pandemic and the sudden drop in foreign student numbers, leaving some universities on the verge of bankruptcy.Calls for an uplift in tuition fees or more direct grants look unlikely to succeed, with both the Education Secretary and the Chancellor signalling an unwillingness to move. Adapt or die is the clear message back to the university sector.

There is renewed interest from a new mission-led government in the socio-economic value of apprenticeships, coupled with the pressure on universities to consider potential new sources of funding – which will include higher and degree apprenticeships

Why is this relevant to the AOP? Because the new Government, which has moved quickly to respond to the wage uplift pleas from the doctors, civil servants and train drivers to name but three, is prioritising the wider skills agenda rather than concentrate merely on academic qualifications – which will include degree apprenticeships. A month ago, the Education Secretary announced the setting up of a new organisation called Skills England, to lead the development of a national skills strategy to support economic growth. Crucially, this new agency will take over responsibility for the way that the apprenticeship levy is spent, signalling the end of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE), the body which has hitherto led on the creation of formal apprenticeships schemes.

Which, for optics, matters. Many will recall that a proposal to introduce an Optometry Degree Apprenticeship Pathway was submitted to the IfATE in 2021. At the time, the AOP’s position was clear; the proposal put forward was flawed, and did not command out confidence or the confidence of AOP members – representing over 80% of qualified optometrists in the UK. Therefore, we opposed the proposal in the strongest terms. It is important to assert that this remains our position today.

It is fair to say the landscape has shifted – and will continue to do so. There is renewed interest from a new mission-led government in the socio-economic value of apprenticeships, coupled with the pressure on universities to consider potential new sources of funding – which will include higher and degree apprenticeships. In our sector, just this month, the General Optical Council (GOC) announced the approval of the new Level 6 Dispensing Optician Apprenticeship, run in partnership by ABDO College and Further Education colleges in Bradford and London. Plus, we have seen the launch of a range of degree apprenticeships in other branches of healthcare, including the Medical Doctor Degree Apprenticeship.

We are committed to carrying out research that canvasses and captures your views based on the details of any future proposal should one surface

As your membership body, our mission is straightforward: to meet the professional needs of every member, and to protect and promote the future of the profession. When it comes to the degree apprenticeship, we anticipate that future proposals will emerge. Formally, the launch of a new optometry degree apprenticeship does not depend on the agreement of the AOP. If Skills England proposes it, a university is willing to work with an employer to deliver it, and the GOC approves it, a pathway can be designed and delivered.

But the role we will play is critical. We will ensure that, should a proposal be put forward in the future, we will scrutinise it at every level to assess what it would mean for the optometry workforce practising today, those already on their journey to qualification, as well as future optometry students. In turn, we will make certain you have all the information available to understand what the model is, and how it would work.

Our second role is to be the voice of optometry. As such, we are committed to carrying out research that canvasses and captures your views based on the details of any future proposal should one surface. That’s exactly what we did back in 2019, when an earlier proposal was floated.

At that time, some of our members said we should refuse to engage with the optometry degree apprenticeship proposal on any level and oppose it. Others encouraged the AOP to liaise with those designing the proposal to explain our concerns, seek to shape their thinking, andmitigate the risks.

Fast-forward to 2024, and I am clear there will undoubtedly be a plurality of views about how we should respond. That’s right and to be expected. Our job is to listen to each of those voices, bring those views together with the work that our policy team will undertake to forensically interrogate the details of any proposal, and to adopt a single clear response which exerts our maximum influence on those making the decisions. Easy, no; essential, absolutely. But to be clear, we remain opposed for simple but compelling reasons: the proposals have been unworkable and have not come close to securing the general support of the profession.