Sector Leading Apprenticeship Pay at the University of Exeter!
Our Vice Chancellors Executive Group (VCEG) agreed that the voluntary Real Living Wage should be applied to apprentices employed by the University of Exeter from August 2019.
This will ensure that:
- all University of Exeter employees and workers are paid the Living Wage (£9.00 per hour). Previously apprentices at the University of Exeter, in their first year, received around £6.00 per hour;
- we can be confident that salaries during training cover the living costs of our apprentices, many of whom are more mature (the average age of our apprentices is 29) and living independently;
- the University of Exeter is competing for the best apprentices by offering competitive starting salaries.
The new apprentice rates, effective from 1 August 2019, are shown below. These take account of changes to Grades B and C agreed by VCEG but do not include the 2019 national pay offer.
- Grade B: Starting at £17,082 and rising to £17,184 in the second year.
- Grade C: Starting at £18,044 and rising to £18,314 in the second year.
- Grade D: Starting at £18,752 and rising to £19,273 in the second year.
New appointments from August 2019 will start on the minimum point for the apprenticeship grade as shown above. They will be eligible for a pay increment on 1 August the following year, subject to a minimum of six months’ service. The revised arrangements start apprentices on a higher salary with a pay increase year-to-year so that incremental progression is smoothed and brought in line with the main pay scales.
(Note: all figures quoted in this article are correct at time of publishing).