Section 3: Roles, Responsibilities and Governance

Published for 2025-26

3.1 Institutional Oversight	3.3 Faculty Roles and Responsibilities
3.2 Department Roles and Responsibilities	3.4 Central Services Roles and Responsibilities

3.1 Institutional Oversight

	Governance
1.	Though the responsibilities delegated by Academic Committee, Academic Board and Council, the Quality and Standards Committee has oversight of educational policy, standards and quality, including for degree apprenticeships.
2.	The Quality and Standards Committee determines the academic policy and regulations setting out UCL’s academic standards and expectations with regards to the quality of apprenticeship training, and puts in place a framework governance and quality assurance to secure the consistent implementation of these standards and expectations.
3.	Each academic year, the Quality and Standards Committee considers the recommendations of its sub-committees together with the range of evidence available on the quality and outcomes of apprenticeship training, to reach an informed view on the maintenance of academic standards, the quality of apprenticeship training, risks to compliance with UCL’s regulatory obligations as an Apprenticeship Training Provider, and the areas of focus for continuous improvement or risk mitigation going forward.
4.	The Quality and Standards Committee includes its informed view on degree apprenticeships and the effectiveness of the related governance and quality assurance when reporting on the quality and standards of UCL’s higher education provision to Academic Committee, Academic Board and Council, including through the Annual Accountability Return on Quality Assurance.
	Degree Apprenticeships Panel
5.	Responsibility for institutional oversight of UCL’s degree apprenticeship provision has been delegated by the Quality and Standards Committee to its Degree Apprenticeship Panel (DAP).
6.	DAP is responsible for overseeing and recommending policy on all aspects of degree apprenticeship delivery at UCL, including strategy, overall performance of the provision including setting expectations, operational matters, compliance, financial arrangements and quality assurance, as set out in the DAP’s Terms of Reference.
7.	The DAP may set up working groups and other sub-groups to manage specific aspects of degree apprenticeship delivery and external compliance.
8.	The DAP oversees the annual production of an institutional self-evaluation of the quality, standards and compliance of degree apprenticeships and uses this to inform an annual report to the Quality and Standards Committee setting out its recommended priorities for continuous enhancement and mitigating risk in the following year.
	Other sub-committees of the Quality and Standards Committee
9.	The following sub-committees of the Quality and Standards Committee have responsibility for quality assurance and enhancement across all of UCL’s higher education provision, including degree apprenticeships: Degree apprenticeship programmes are subject to approval by the Programme and Module Approval Panel (PMAP) in accordance with Chapter 7, Part B of the Academic Manual. The monitoring, review and enhancement of the quality of degree apprenticeships is undertaken as part of the framework overseen by the Quality and Standards Committee. Academic regulations and policies relating to degree apprenticeships are overseen by the Quality and Standards Committee.

3.2 Department Roles and Responsibilities

1.	Heads of Department have accountability for ensuring effective oversight, quality assurance and enhancement of degree apprenticeship programmes through their education governance structures, including the Departmental Education Committee (DEC). Departments are required to report regularly to the DAP on the delivery and management of their degree apprenticeships.
2.	Heads of Department must ensure that the degree apprenticeships developed and delivered within the Department are appropriately resourced and supported by the department management and operational structures. This will include appointing a Programme Director and a lead administrator to each degree apprenticeship programme and ensuring that they are able to fulfil their responsibilities in line with the guidance set out in Annex 11.4
3.	Heads of Department must seek assurance that the Department is able to deliver each degree apprenticeship programme in accordance with the applicable Apprenticeship Standard(s), the approved programme proposal and the applicable UCL regulations. There must be mechanisms within the Department for the ongoing monitoring of its compliance with the relevant requirements related to degree apprenticeship delivery, and risks to compliance or quality should be included in the department’s regular reporting to the Faculty and Degree Apprenticeships Panel.

3.3 Faculty Roles and Responsibilities

Directors of Education and Student Experience or their equivalents in each Faculty that delivers degree apprenticeships must ensure that degree apprenticeships are included in the standard education governance structure of the Faculty and that oversight of the Faculty’s degree apprenticeship provision is maintained by the Faculty Teaching Committee (FTC).

3.4 Central Services Roles and Responsibilities

1.	The Registrar nominates one or more senior staff to fulfil the following institutional roles responsible for leading and managing degree apprenticeships at UCL:

	a.	A Lead Officer to provide strategic support to the Degree Apprenticeships Panel, coordinate the operational management of degree apprenticeships at an institutional level and represent UCL in day-to-day engagement with external bodies regulating degree apprenticeships.
	b.	An Inspection Nominee to be the main link with the inspection team during Ofsted inspections of UCL’s degree apprenticeships.
	c.	A Shadow Inspection Nominee to act as an observer and support for the provider and the nominee during an Ofsted Inspection.
	d.	A Designated Safeguarding Lead with responsibility for the implementation of UCL’s Safeguarding Children and Adults at Risk Policy and Procedure (Staff and Students) in relation to apprentices.

2.	The responsibilities of central professional services for supporting apprentices and the delivery of degree apprenticeship programmes will usually be the same as for traditional degree programmes, noting specifically that:

	a.	Admissions and applications, including the assessment of entry requirements, must be managed collaboratively between the academic department and Admissions in Student and Registry Services in line with Chapter 1 and this chapter of the Academic Manual.
	b.	b. Statutory returns must only be compiled and reported by Student Operations in Student and Registry Services, including reporting the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) to the Department for Education (DfE).

For non-integrated degree apprenticeships, academic departments must procure the services of and manage the relationship with an appropriate End Point Assessment (EPA) organisation, in consultation with Education Services and Legal Services, and must register apprentices with the EPA organisation in line with the requirements of the signed contract.