Access To Talent

The business community at USW has a rich pool of talent to draw upon, and prides itself on its connections with industry

Our work-based learning opportunities offer many benefits to businesses large and small. Businesses can reap rewards from tapping into this pool of talent in a variety of ways:

  • Higher and Degree Apprenticeships offer opportunities for individuals to participate in professional qualifications while being wholly engaged as part of your workforce
  • Student placements allow your enterprise to benefit from the energy and new thinking they bring, while students learn from you too
  • Recruiting our graduates comes with the knowledge that they have studied at university whose students are well prepared for business and enterprise

Apprentices benefit from increased skills and enhanced employability through a programme combining work and study, while employers gain from greater productivity, improved business performance and higher employee retention. 

Higher and degree apprenticeships are an alternative to traditional university study, giving your employees the opportunity to obtain a higher qualification, learn professional skills and gain specialist knowledge.  

We work with organisations across Wales and England to develop collaborative, responsive and resilient partnerships - we will work with you closely at every stage, from initial programme development to graduation. We understand the training levy, and the processes involved in developing apprenticeship programmes. 


To find out more about apprenticeships, click here

To find out more about degree apprenticeships, click here

Co-created with industry our graduate schemes develop talent specifically for their field of work. Working with Welsh Contact Centre Forum and Academi Wales, our current provision includes the MSC element of Welsh Financial Services, Welsh Data Science and Wales Public Services. Not just your average masters programmes, the schemes have been designed to meet industry demand. and needs.  Graduates are recruited from multi-faceted disciplines around the vision of creating and retaining talent in the region. 

Welsh Financial Services Graduate programme 

The Welsh Financial Services Graduate Programme is a collaborative two year full-time programme of work, training and academic study unique to Wales, co-designed and co-delivered by leading financial services organisations which aims to recruit 40 graduates in order to develop a talent pool of industry professionals. This project is partly funded by the European Social Fund 

Participating employers include Admiral, Atradius, Vauxhall Finance UK plc, DS Smith, Hodge Bank, Lexis Nexis, V12 Retail Finance, Composite Legal Expenses, Development Bank of Wales, Optimum Credit, Principality Building Society,  Legal & General, Motonovo & the Monmouthshire Building Society. 

Now in its 7th year of delivery, the MSc contains Work Based Learning Modules which correlate to their projects in the workplace.  This gives real benefits to both the grads and the employers. So far 95% of the grads that have completed the programme have been employed by a consortium member or other financial services companies in the region. 

Find out more about the Welsh Financial Services Graduate Programme

Welsh Data Science Graduate programme 

Data science is defined as a multi-disciplinary field that uses scientific methods, processes, algorithms and systems to extract knowledge and insights from data to solve problems.  Based on the same model of delivery as the Financial Services programmes, graduates are placed within a consortium of employers and undertake 3 placements on 8-month rotation.  They work on projects for their Work-based learning modules which have impact on the businesses in which they are placed to help improve the products they are offer. 

Participating employers include  ActiveQuote, Admiral Group, Atradius, Centrica, GoCompare, Henry Howard Finance, Hodge Bank, LexisNexis Risk Solutions, MotoNovo Finance, Optimum Credit and Principality Building Society, Pricewaterhousecoopers, Talent Ticker. 

Typical job roles include Statistical Modeller, Data Engineer, Quantitative Analyst, Credit Risk Analyst, Pricing Analyst, and Predictive Modeller/Decision Science. 

Find out more about the Welsh Data Science Graduate Programme

All wales public services graduate programme 

This graduate programme is an Academi Wales initiative specifically designed to develop talent in the Welsh public sector to ensure strong leadership for the future and drive forward the agenda of the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act 2015 and embed the One Welsh Public Service Values.  The Masters in Leadership and Governance is studied by the grads as they work in rotation within a regional cluster.  The Msc covers the latest leadership theories, best practice, and developments and apply this to the workplace as the grad complete their work based learning modules and sector specific dissertation addressing real issues in the public service.  More here

Network75 provides students with the opportunity to Work, Earn and Learn. Students work in a local business 3 days per week and attend university 2 days per week. 

In conjunction with the University of South Wales, all students benefit from some of the very best degrees on offer, state of the art learning facilities, and excellent teaching.

Find out more about Network75 here

Employers can also find other ways of working with USW Students here

The service is offered to all types of companies from SME’s, multi-national and non-profit organisations.  Students get to the root of the problem, which results in a detailed report and presentation of their recommendations. 

If your organisation has a particular problem or gap in knowledge, the South Wales Business Clinic would be delighted to hear from you.

Discuss the range of opportunities available at USW

To evaluate your work-based learning needs, contact us on 01443 482 482 or email [email protected].