Working within the higher education (HE) sector delivering higher education teaching
Occupational Profile
Academic Professionals work within the higher education (HE) sector delivering higher education teaching and undertaking research to support the development of knowledge within their discipline. They may work in Universities, Colleges or the Private Sector, in the primary role of developing and sharing knowledge with students, peers and external stakeholders to support advancement of the discipline and the resolution of major challenges. Academic Professionals play an active role in supporting a range of people including students, funders, stakeholders and government to gain insight into their specialist discipline area. Academic Professionals engage in continuing professional development in both their discipline and their pedagogy and make use of appropriate technologies to support the acquisition of knowledge.
Academic Professionals will reach full competency in their role through this apprenticeship, taking them from their entry point to employment in higher education to full professional competence, which can be achieved only following extensive training and work experience in both the core elements of the apprenticeship and in a specialist route for either teaching or research. At entry point, individuals have considerable expertise in a particular subject discipline, usually as indicated by the completion of postgraduate level 7 or level 8 qualifications, but still need the substantial training indicated below to acquire full competency as an Academic Professional. The Academic Professional Apprenticeship Standard reflects widely understood professional standards for both the teaching and research routes in higher education and is aligned to the Higher Education Academy’s UK Professional Standards Framework and Vitae’s Researcher Development Framework.
Academic Professionals undertake the core role and follow one of two specialist routes, teaching and supporting learning or undertaking research.
Summary of standard
https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/apprenticeship-standards/academic-professional/
Full standard
