As part of this research, we came up with ideas for interventions that could address the challenges we identified. These ideas are focused on challenges and projects that Nesta may be able to work on, rather than interventions, system changes and challenges that Nesta may not be as well placed to make a contribution. As a result, these aren’t necessarily what Nesta believes to be the best solutions to the challenges, but instead are some interesting ideas for interventions that we could lead on designing, testing and scaling.

Local apprenticeship accelerator (employers get an apprentice for free)

Local funding pots that allow local businesses to take on an apprentice for free could be made available. Businesses could apply for the funding, and only receive it if they’re deemed to be a quality heat pump installer. This funding could address two key challenges in the apprenticeship space.

Firstly, the funding could increase the number of employers that can take on an apprentice, as well as make it easier for them to take on an older apprentice. But, crucially, it could create a groundswell of apprentices within the catchment area of the local college, giving them the confidence and demand needed to invest in running the low-carbon heating technician apprenticeship. This, in turn, could allow other businesses to send their apprentices on the course in the future.

There are multiple ways such a scheme could work. Funding could be consistent over the three or four years, or it could be tapered each year, recognising the increasing value of an apprentice to the business. Eligibility could also be tweaked to prioritise different types of employers.

Although national or local government could provide this funding, neither is likely to have the budget to do so. An alternative approach could be for those in the private sector, such as manufacturers, to provide funding. In fact, this is already happening. Vaillant is paying the wages of 10 apprentices, who they’ve provided to a number of their most trusted and quality installers in the same region. They’ve partnered with Derby College to offer the low carbon heating technician course to these apprentices, giving the college the confidence to invest in this new apprenticeship.

However, there’s an uncertainty that there would be enough heat pump businesses in the catchment area of colleges or local funding pots across the country that would want to participate. It may also be difficult to find a funding source that could commit to funding multiple cohorts of apprentices. Without this multi-year funding, there may not be enough guarantee of ongoing demand for colleges to run the course. Similarly, there’s an assumption that increasing course demand is enough to enable colleges to run the low carbon heating technician apprenticeship, and other challenges, such as a lack of suitable trainers, won’t be an issue.

Bring heat pump engineers into the classroom

A scheme to bring engineers that install heat pumps as part of their daily job into the classroom could be created. These engineers could teach parts of the course in the classroom, bringing lived experience to the training programme, as well as helping to improve the confidence and skills of college tutors.

This could be an important way to very quickly address the low levels of heat pump knowledge and confidence in college tutors, perhaps allowing colleges on the fence about running the low carbon heating technician apprenticeship to do so. In the medium term, it could also boost the number of heat pump trainers overall. As tutors learn from the heat pump engineers they may gain the skills and confidence to teach greater parts of the course themselves. This would reduce their need for a heat pump engineer to be present in the classroom, possibly allowing the engineer to go on to support another college or tutor.

However, there may be a number of challenges in making this scheme work in practice. Firstly, this is likely to add an additional cost to colleges that are already working with constrained budgets. There’s also no guarantee that those who are the best at installing heat pumps will be the best at teaching others or training the tutor. Working with heat pumps on-site and teaching are different skills. On a similar note, many heat pump engineers may not want to take time away from their job or business to teach..

Finally, although this scheme has the potential to increase the number of competent heat pump trainers available and encourage a few more colleges to offer low-carbon heating technician apprenticeships, it may focus too much on improving the skills of those already teaching heat pump-related courses. Although improving the skills of these tutors is valuable, a larger issue is to increase the number of available tutors so that the most appropriate courses can be provided by more colleges.

Group apprenticeship scheme

Many employers can’t afford the high costs of taking on an apprentice, and some also aren’t able to offer the full range of experiences an apprentice needs to fulfil their college requirements. These challenges can prevent businesses from taking on an apprentice and are particularly impactful on the smallest businesses.

These issues could be addressed by setting up a programme to match two businesses to take on and share an apprentice together. Not only would this split the cost of taking on an apprentice, but it could also allow businesses that don’t have the range of work opportunities needed for an apprentice to take one on. This could allow a greater number of companies to employ apprentices.

However, there are many practical and logistical considerations that would need to be addressed, ranging from how an apprentice’s time would be split between the two companies, to who would employ them at the end of their course. Relatedly, there’s also the question of how the employer who doesn’t retain the apprentice post-apprenticeship benefits from this arrangement. This raises questions as to whether they’d actually be invested in training the apprentice properly or if they’d predominantly use them for odd tasks and cheap labour. Finally, for this programme to work, the gaps in the experiences that companies can offer would have to complement one another. There would have to be enough companies with symbiotic gaps in a similar area for this to work, and this would have to be the case across the country.

Heat pump managed learning programme/career-change boot camps

A solution that could address multiple challenges that our research identified could be to create a managed learning programme (MLP) for heat pumps, similar to those that are used in the gas heating sector.

MLPs are often used as an alternative route to becoming a gas engineer for those who don’t want to undertake an apprenticeship. They’re usually 18-month courses that entail a mix of classroom learning and on-the-job experience with an employer. This makes them a popular choice for those looking to change careers. A similar arrangement might be especially beneficial for growing the heat pump industry at pace, as it could allow people from other sectors to enter the workforce.

As students would pay to enrol in a heat pump MLP, and the associated on-the-job work experience, this could address the financial challenges that employers face with taking on an apprentice. As with an apprenticeship, employers would still benefit from the ability to employ students that have done experience with them.

A heat pump MLP would also allow those who might be too far in their career to undertake a three or four-year apprenticeship to enter the sector. Not only would this increase the pool of individuals who could grow the sector, but it could also increase the number of mature entrants, who may also add value to businesses more quickly and at a faster rate due to the shorter course length.

However, it’s important to note that gas MLPs have a mixed reputation amongst those in the industry. If this is inherent in trying to fit heating and plumbing knowledge and experience into the structure of an MLP, then it may not be the best idea to pursue creating one for heat pumps.

It’s also important to acknowledge that many undertake gas MLPs with the hopes of becoming a sole trader. However, for many, it’s unlikely that a heat pump MLP will prepare them enough to run their own heat pump business. This isn’t an issue so long as the target demographic would be content finding - and working - for an employer after graduating. Relatedly, this solution assumes employers would be as keen to train and employ an MLP student as much as an apprentice, which may not be the case.

There are clearly challenges that employers and colleges are facing with running apprenticeships. These will be crucial to address if apprenticeship uptake is to be increased. Although this is an important issue to work on, we won’t immediately be diving into a full-scale project. Instead, we’ll take some time to consider how Nesta can best contribute to this complex issue, especially in the light of changes happening in the heating and apprenticeship spaces, such as the development of a new level 2 plumbing and domestic heating apprenticeship and the UK government’s incoming Growth and Skills Levy and apprenticeship rehaul.