Grant Thornton launches new Masters-level apprenticeships
Professional services firm Grant Thornton’s UK wing has partnered with Cranfield School of Management to launch a new Masters-level apprenticeship. The next generation Executive MBA and Masters in Management is designed to meet employer demand for full award masters and MBA level courses.
Established in 1967, Cranfield School of Management is a business school that is part of Cranfield University in Bedfordshire. The UK university has delivered an Executive MBA for more than 50 years now, recognising the transformational role leadership can play for organisations – and in anticipation of an economic recovery in Britain post-Covid-19, the institution has partnered with audit and advisory brand Grant Thornton to develop a new offering for future business leaders to learn on the job.
Professor David Oglethorpe, Dean of Cranfield School of Management, said, “If we are to build back better and get to grips with the UK’s productivity issues, then we are going to need highly skilled managers and leaders to drive the recovery forward. Apprenticeship programmes such as Cranfield’s are vital for UK jobs, UK growth and UK productivity and are an important part of rebuilding the economy.”
The university and professional services firm have been partnering to offer business education for many years now. In partnership with Grant Thornton, Cranfield was the first business school in England to offer the Executive MBA via the Apprenticeship Levy and has now evolved the Senior Leader apprenticeship offer to access management education.
Since 2017, this has seen over 1,400 senior leaders enrol on the Cranfield and Grant Thornton programmes with over 500 dynamic organisations from the public, non-profit and private sectors represented, including 35 of the FTSE 350.
Leading on from this, Grant Thornton and Cranfield have launched two new Executive MBA and Master’s in Management and Leadership programmes. Both courses will have cohorts starting in September 2021, both aligned to the new Level 7 Senior Leader Standard. The courses are delivered over 28-months, and the Executive MBA pathway offers a blend of face-to-face teaching and online learning. The total cost is £27,000, of which £14,000 can be contributed from the Apprenticeship Levy for eligible organisations or learners – while applications are open now.
Justin Rix, Partner and Head of People Advisory at Grant Thornton UK, stated, “We are delighted to launch two new programmes with Cranfield, building on the success we have had to date. We have refreshed the programmes to ensure they reflect latest developments in leadership thinking and the new market environment. The blend of commercial and academic content will stretch even the brightest minds and help develop leaders fit to lead organisations into the future.”
The news follows Grant Thornton also extending its partnership with training provider Babington in December 2020, in order to deliver apprenticeships in the professional services sector. The Accountancy Apprenticeships are aimed at helping organisations up-skill their people and develop the finance function, and have already been accessed by close to 1,000 people since their launch three years ago.
