This Journal’s mission is to showcase the research which the University of Kent’s Professional Economist Degree Apprentices produce as part of their End Point Assessment (EPA) process.
A degree apprenticeship combines rigorous academic study complemented with extensive work experience. All Professional Economist Apprentices have worked within teams of economists on a wide variety of research projects throughout their programme of study. But none will have produced such a substantial and independent piece of economics research before. In addition, apprentices are provided with only limited supervision during the production of this work as dictated by the regulations of their Apprenticeship Standard and EPA Plan. Even so, the standard of work apprentices deliver is high and the intellectual content impressive. Apprentices are free to research any topic in Economics for their EPA Dissertation and the range of research questions exampled in this first edition of the Journal illustrates the breadth of their interest.
The Journal, and the papers herein, showcase the quality of the work apprentices can produce at the end of their programme. The Journal is essential reading for our current Professional Economist Apprentices who are about to embark on their own EPA Dissertation, to see what they should aim for.
Moreover, the papers here illustrate clearly to new employers why they should use the Professional Economist Degree Apprenticeship to develop their own future talent by offering an opportunity to a new apprentice themselves.
For our Staff, witnessing our apprentices produce their first piece of independent research is a real highlight of our work. Even if you don’t have time to read every paper there should be a piece here that motivates you or sparks your imagination in this issue.