Coventry City Council: Building a data-skilled workforce with apprenticeships

The pandemic brought into sharp focus the value of data for effective decision-making, both in professional and personal contexts as the country watched with interest at the daily graphs being presented by government. Like many councils, Coventry City Council held vast amounts of data but identified a critical gap in the skills needed to transform this raw information into actionable insight.

The council recognised that their data assets represented untapped potential that could drive service improvement and efficiency. However, it became increasingly clear that centralised expertise alone could not address this opportunity. The council needed to develop broader data literacy across the organisation.

In the context of constrained budgets and workforce capacity challenges, Coventry faced the dilemma of how to build these essential skills at scale. The council determined that data capability needed to become intrinsic throughout the organisation rather than concentrated in specialist roles, requiring a strategic approach to workforce development.

Identifying the apprenticeship levy as an underutilised resource, the council developed an innovative approach to building data capabilities across the workforce. The apprenticeship levy is a government initiative that businesses can use to fund apprenticeship training at no extra cost. By ringfencing money, the levy is designed to boost skills and training provision and offers councils an economic way to develop people’s knowledge and skills.   The council partnered with a specialist apprenticeship provider, to conduct an initial data skills assessment that would inform their strategy. 

Learning from this experience, the council embedded conversations regarding data apprenticeship opportunities and levy use into the annual appraisal process for all staff. This proved more successful than surveys for understanding development needs and opportunities.

The council implemented three levels of data apprenticeships:

• Level 3 Data Literacy – targeted at people in administrative roles doing data collection/maintenance
• Level 4 Data Analyst – for people working with data extensively in roles such as performance management, with no requirement for a technical background
• Level 6 Data Science – focused on building more advanced capabilities, typically within central functions

The council adopted a phased implementation strategy beginning in late 2023, with the first cohort of apprentices followed by a second group, and a third cohort now in planning. This intentional multi-year approach allows teams to release staff for development while maintaining service continuity, enabling multiple team members to participate sequentially.

For the first cohort, the council conducted a whole organisation communications campaign to raise awareness and generate interest. As the programme evolved, the council looked to a more targeted approach, combining bottom-up interest with top-down identification of suitable candidates. Heads of service and leaders in the council identify people who would particularly benefit from the apprenticeship.

Each cohort contains 50 learners, which is a mix of public and private sector participants. This cross-sectoral approach introduces diverse perspectives and challenges, broadening understanding and potentially attracting new talent to local government.

Participant feedback has directly influenced programme refinement. For example, when Python coding in the Level 4 apprenticeship proved challenging for some participants, the provider adjusted the curriculum to make this element optional for most learners while establishing it as a pathway component for those pursuing the Level 6 qualification in technical roles.

While the council acknowledges that the time commitment makes apprenticeships unsuitable for all staff, the formal qualification element has proved particularly attractive for career development, especially in an environment of reduced conventional training budgets.

The programme has now engaged 60 staff members across Coventry's workforce of 4,500, representing a significant investment in capability development. With Level 4 qualifications valued at approximately £15,000 and Level 6 at £22,000-£24,000, the apprenticeship approach delivers substantial development value at a time when conventional training resources are constrained.

The impact is being captured through specific examples from learners, validated by their managers, highlighting: 

• Time savings of 7.5-15 hours across teams per week
• 3-4 hours per month saved for individuals
• 25 minutes per week saved for others
• Service transformation, exemplified by the waste services team's data-informed redesign of collection rounds

Beyond these quantifiable outcomes, the programme is positioning Coventry for future innovation. The council has initiated exploratory work in artificial intelligence and is investigating a newly developed data/AI apprenticeship as a potential next step in their capability development journey.

Several factors have contributed to the programme's success:

• Strong leadership support – Dr Julie Nugent, the CEO of Coventry, is central to the council's data-centric approach. With a background in skills development, she has ensured that data literacy is led from the top of the organisation.
• Existing apprenticeship infrastructure – Coventry already had a proactive apprenticeship team, established career pathway structures, and recruitment processes for apprenticeship roles, providing the foundation for this data-focused extension.
• Flexible, responsive approach – By working with the apprenticeship provider to adapt the content based on learner feedback, the council has ensured the programme remains relevant to both individual and organisational needs.
• Integration with existing processes – Embedding discussions about data apprenticeship opportunities into annual appraisals created a systematic approach to identifying development needs.