Queen Mary, University of London rated ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted for degree apprenticeships

Queen Mary, University of London has been rated ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted for its degree apprenticeship programmes.

After a four day inspection judging quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management and effectiveness of provision the uni was awarded ‘Outstanding’.

Queen Mary will join only seven other universities in the UK with this rating.

Degree apprenticeships were first launched by Queen Mary in 2015 and according to the uni give students the opportunity to gain “a full Bachelor’s or Master’s degree while earning a wage and getting real on-the-job experience in their chosen profession.” 

On the ranking, Queen Mary President and Principle Colin Bailey said: “I am extremely proud, although not surprised, that the quality of our education has been rated as ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted. This independent in-depth evaluation by the regulator demonstrates the excellent education that is delivered by our staff. 

“Our vision at Queen Mary is to open the doors of opportunity to any student with the potential to succeed. I am therefore pleased that the Ofsted assessors recognised that we ‘place a significant emphasis on promoting social mobility, diversity and inclusion’.

He added that QMUL was the first Russell Group to offer degree apprenticeship programmes, saying the aims of the scheme are to “[provide] students with varied study options that suit their career goals; and [provide] employers the opportunity to work with us to meet their skills needs.”

Dr Philippa Lloyd, Vice-Principal for Policy and Strategic Partnerships, also spoke about the programmes, saying: “We are very proud of the employers we partner with on our degree apprenticeship programmes, including Goldman Sachs, Amazon, KPMG and PwC and the NHS. I was therefore particularly pleased to see this assessment highlight that we ‘work very effectively with prestigious organisations’ to ensure our curricula meet employers’ skills needs.”