Plymouth Marjon University talk endorsed degrees, employability and a localised approach to skills shortages

Plymouth Marjon, a long-standing Higher Education partner of CIMSPA, has a strong profile in sport and are swiftly developing a nationally recognised reputation for delivering outstanding sport & physical activity (S&PA) related learning opportunities.

We caught up with Dr Phil Brown, newly appointed Vice Chairman of the Local Skills Accountability Board (LSAB) for Devon, and a Marjon alumnus who has worked within the S&PA sector his entire career, to get his take on endorsed degrees, employability, student memberships and a localised approach to skills shortages.

Plymouth Marjon University currently has numerous qualifications endorsed by CIMSPA, including a BA Hons Sport Development Programme, BA Hons Football Development and Coaching Degree and a Foundation Degree in Sport Development and Coaching, all of which Phil has overall curriculum responsibility for as a Senior Lecturer in Sport Development.

Plymouth Marjon was one of the founding CIMSPA Higher Education partners and as such Phil played his part, alongside the CIMSPA Education team, in developing the endorsement process. Touching on this we asked Phil how he found working with CIMSPA.

“I’ve been involved from the start when we were developing the various occupational standards, and I can honestly say the people at CIMSPA have always been great to work with.

“We overcame many challenges in developing various processes, whilst always maintaining a really positive, collaborative environment. All of which meant the final outcome not only shaped standards that are fit for our sector, but also ensured those processes were manageable and achievable for all stakeholders.”

A dual endorsement that can help increase confidence in employers

Phil went on to talk more about the tangible value of having a professional occupational standard weaved into Marjon’s qualifications.

“Both the university and our students can now stand up and say with absolute confidence that ‘I have a professional occupational standard’ as part of my qualification. It’s like a dual endorsement that can help increase confidence in employers and reaffirm that graduates are capable and ready to thrive.

“I have colleagues within the S&PA sector who didn’t go to university and are sometimes a little sceptical of a degree because they don’t necessarily understand it. It’s great to be able to say to these people, as well as the University, the ‘sector’ is endorsing these graduates to say they have the right skill sets, competencies, and capabilities to be a valuable asset to your organisation and the wider S&PA workforce.”

Local people who understand the local nuances

We then went on to discuss skill shortages and gauge Phil’s view on our strategy to localise the skills diagnostics process, asking him if he thought this is the best way to meet the demand within the sector.

“Absolutely, 100%. Both research and practice tell us that a localised approach is the way forward, with local people who understand the local nuances.

“I’ve seen other sporting organisations taking the approach of ‘it worked well in Plymouth or say, Manchester, let’s push it nationally’. It’s like a personal trainer pushing out a generic programme and trying to utilise it for everyone, that’s just not going to work. Each community has unique characteristics that shape their needs and wants.

“CIMSPA’s commitment to adopting a bespoke and localised approach to developing skills action plans via the team of Skills Hub Managers has given us higher education partners the visibility we need, specific to our locality, to ensure local employability needs are documented and ultimately catered for within the qualifications we provide.

“It’s definitely a positive story of improvement in the way we do things within sport and physical activity.”

Opportunities to have insightful and valuable conversations with local stakeholders

Phil continued to talk of the impact his Skills Hub Manager was having in the area and reiterated how he valued his contribution.

“Simon Barnes, our Skills Hub Manager in the South of England is doing a great job in involving the key people and organisations in wider conversations, allowing us to drive awareness of local skills boards that in turn feed into the development of local skills action plans.

“Having Simon on board has really made a difference. He orchestrated the setup of a CIMSPA Networking Day, which then evolved into a Regional Conference with lots of opportunities to have insightful and valuable conversations with local stakeholders across the sector, to help shape the future of our workforce.”

Find out more about our network of skills hub managers.

Students can add to any applications or CV that they are a CIMSPA member

Talk then turned to student memberships, where Phil let us have his take the value of a CIMSPA membership for Plymouth Marjon students.

“We sign all our students up to CIMSPA membership at the start of their first year, as a higher education partner we get a heavily reduced rate of £6 per student, it’s a no-brainer when you consider the benefits.

“As well as the learning opportunities, discounts with S&PA suppliers and other benefits, it’s great from a status perspective as students can add to any applications or CV that they are a CIMSPA member.”

We are aligned with the Chartered Institute for our sector

Finally, we asked Phil if he felt the partnership with CIMSPA had been beneficial to Plymouth Marjon.

“Oh, absolutely. What’s great about working with CIMSPA is we now have degrees that are endorsed by the Chartered Institute for Sport & Physical Activity. Whereas our students had to previously take our word for the fact that we had their career aspirations at the forefront of our minds, now they can see we are aligned with the Chartered Institute for our sector.

“That means they can have confidence that we are working to ensure their qualifications are mapped to the professional standards employers require, and therefore the skill set they develop as an individual will be consistent with what the S&PA sector needs at that time, therefore giving them the best possible chance of thriving in their career.

“I also really value the collaboration with CIMSPA colleagues and the opportunities it presents to work closer with other stakeholders and universities, ultimately enabling us to share challenges, best practice and benefit from the general collegiality that comes with it.”