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Kai meets with US delegation at university

14th June 2023

Our caffeine-fuelled celebrity Kai Henderson has been out and about talking about Graduate Apprenticeships.

Kai attended a round-table discussion with a US delegation yesterday (Tue), hosted by Robert Gordon University.

Leading the delegation was Paul Herdman, of the Rodel Foundation of Delaware.

The foundation is a non-profit organisation focused on improving public education in the state through policy and collaboration with partners. It is currently considering youth transitions from school into employment or further and higher education, and are here gathering research, in collaboration with the OECD.

Kai discussed his own experiences as he studies for a BSc (Hons) in Data Science on a graduate apprenticeship.

He was asked to attend as he has completed a Foundation Apprenticeship, Modern Apprenticeship and is currently undertaking a Graduate Apprenticeship.

Kai talked about the benefits of taking this pathway compared to the traditional route of university after secondary school: “The pathway I have taken throughout the last three years works for me so well as I am able to learn and understand the theory material a lot better when putting into practice what am learning.”

Alongside his studies, Kai works as a junior risk consultant at Marex. Students are employed full-time throughout their course of studies and combine course learning with work-based learning. The course itself provides students with the knowledge, understanding and skills required to help their organisations gain insight from their data to drive innovation and efficiency.

Graduate Apprenticeships are relatively new, having been launched in 2017-18 and currently account for less than 1% of university entrants. They are offered in key occupational growth areas of the economy and support the education and development of individuals so that they acquire the necessary skills, knowledge and competence required to work and progress in their chosen sector.

Pictured from left are Kai, Fiona Campbell (RGU business development) and Paul Herdman.

You can read more about Kai's experiences in the #CoffeeWithKai series, published in our perspectives section