CU COVENTRY has appointed a new Chief Operating Officer.
The institution, formerly known as Coventry University College, has welcomed Aidan Friend in his news role leading an ambitious apprenticeships strategy.
His appointment comes as CU Coventry aims to become the biggest provider of higher and degree apprenticeships, which allow students to earn a full-time wage and study for higher level qualifications at the same time.
Mr Friend already has a vast amount of experience within the Coventry University Group and joins from Coventry University Services, where he involved with teaching English as a foreign language.
He said: “Developing our apprenticeship offering will be my primary focus, and we want to become the number one provider of higher and degree apprenticeships.
“A new policy around apprenticeships was announced by the government in 2015, so it’s very much an emerging thing.
“I have already had meetings in London to get under the skin of what they are trying to achieve so that we can meet these aims as well as our own.
“We have various markets to talk to, including those individuals looking into apprenticeships, employers who will be paying the levy and have a real financial driver and non-levy payers who are eligible for enhanced government training subsidies to employ apprentices.
“We will also be looking at what we already offer and how this can be developed, not just at CU Coventry but across the whole group.”
Mr Friend will also be overseeing the expansion of Coventry University Group’s newest campus, CU London, which is due to open in the new 2017 academic year.
CU Coventry offers more vocationally-based courses, with flexible learning options and no end of year exams, with the aim of providing a high quality learning solution, while also allowing students to fit studying around their busy lifestyles.
In addition to this it also offers lower tuition fees to other comparable institutes helping to make higher education affordable.
