Level 6 apprenticeships matter to UK’s science and nuclear industries

Level 6 and 7 apprenticeships have been pivotal for the science industries, enabling recruitment from a diverse talent pool whilst offering employees previously unavailable progression opportunities.

Apprenticeships offer science industry employers structured, highly technical, employer-led training pathways, designed by and for those sectors, without which innovation and growth is unsustainable.

The upheaval of apprenticeships means employers fear that level 6 might be under threat. They’re already uneasy through the defunding of level 7 and of management and leadership standards, the perceived downgrading in apprenticeships quality following unpopular assessment reforms, and what they see as a raid on levy funds as they’re reduced to 12 months.

Level 6 is widely recognised by science employers as providing a robust, job-ready alternative to traditional degree routes. It combines academic learning with structured, assessed workplace competence, ensuring that candidates can apply scientific knowledge consistently and safely in operational environments.

Pfizer’s R&D HR director Karl Treacy told me he believes that level 6 apprenticeships are particularly important because they build capability in specialist and emerging skills areas, which ensures alignment with both current and future capability needs.

The scientist, nuclear scientist and nuclear engineer standards have delivered more than 2,500 apprenticeship starts to date, with almost half across other science subjects at level 6.

Supporting the government-backed Nuclear Skills Plan, level 6 apprenticeships have revolutionised how Nuclear Restoration Services (NRS), part of the NDA group, has developed its people.

They’re delivering a highly complex and multi-generational mission of national importance with a well-documented skills gap, and tell me that access to degree level apprenticeships has been “vital” in helping them meet the skills challenge.

So it would be a catastrophic failure for any skills policy to restrict a vital supply of apprenticeship talent into sectors identified by the government for priority growth. More broadly, this risks a disconnect between policy and industrial need, ultimately undermining industry ambitions.

This is about supporting growth but also widening access and driving social mobility. University, with its associated costs, is not for everyone. So, level 6 apprenticeships provide a valuable alternative, enabling individuals from lower socio‑economic backgrounds to progress into professional and leadership roles, supporting genuine social mobility.

Degree apprenticeships also support companies to build advanced skills locally, supporting regional growth, developing resilient life sciences clusters and reversing community ‘brain drains’. Developing talent locally is both a social good and a strategic necessity; building capability, strengthening succession and ensuring organisations retain the skills to operate safely and effectively.

Policymakers face difficult choices in shaping the future of the skills system. However, given the central role science industries play in growing the economy, it is essential to protect advanced skills pathways. Level 6 apprenticeships equally support critical workforce needs and progression routes that broaden participation and widen access.

Cogent Skills supports employers across the science industries; highly-skilled, economically vital sectors with innovation built on technical expertise. From chemical engineers designing clean energy solutions to research scientists developing life improving new treatments, these globally-significant roles depend on a UK talent pool of technically proficient, well-skilled employees with tenacity, curiosity and a safety mindset. And companies need a lot more – about 140,000 skilled workers by 2035.

If the UK is serious about growth, innovation and competitiveness, these pathways must remain both accessible and viable for the employers who rely on them.