The UK’s First Service Design Apprentices
In January 2025, the UK government laid out its Blueprint for Modern Digital Government, calling for:
“comprehensive, compelling change across the public sector, not just central government”
Yet only days earlier, another headline exposed the scale of the challenge:
“70% of public sector leaders say fragmented data and siloed systems are delaying digital transformation. Just 27% feel their organisation has a complete, coherent view of operations.”
While those headlines point to the pressure the public sector is under, something remarkable and quietly powerful has happened – and it offers a way forward.
A national first: JGA’s Service Design apprentices set the standard
The JGA Group is proud to have delivered the UK’s first-ever cohort of Service Design apprentices – and even prouder to report that the first apprentices complete their apprenticeships all successfully achieved Distinction.
They have completed the Service Designer Apprenticeship, applying systems thinking, service mapping, user research and collaborative redesign techniques to improve real services in their organisations. They weren’t doing simulated projects. They were hands-on, tackling real, complex and meaningful challenges from within to support the public good.
Why service design matters
Service Design is often misunderstood as a digital or design skillset. In reality, it enables transformation across entire service systems. It helps teams and organisations to:
- Understand user-journeys, including pain-points, failure-points and strengths
- Adopt people-centred design
- Collaborate across silos to achieve better outcomes
- Make services simpler, fairer and more effective
Crucially, the apprenticeship format allows all this to happen in the workplace. Apprentices learn through doing, and the impact is immediate and lasting
Why Level 6 matters – especially now
While the Service Design apprenticeship is a level 6 (degree equivalent) programme, the government has confirmed that public funding for Level 7 (master’s degree equivalent) apprenticeships will be withdrawn for learners aged 22+ from January 2026.
This means cuts to a number of level 7 apprenticeship programmes regularly accessed by the public sector including Systems Thinking Practitioner.
This adds urgency for public sector teams who need service design and systems thinking techniques, tools and resources to improve the effectiveness of their service provision. In times of resource constraints and budget cuts, these programmes are proven, effective and build the capabilities urgently needed by public services.
If you or your team will benefit from either service or systems thinking apprenticeships then do contact us really soon on sales@jga-group.co.uk
Check out how Eve and Nirosha leveraged service design and systems thinking apprenticeships to problem-solve public services:
https://www.jga-group.com/case-studies/eve-loughtons-apprenticeship-journey/
https://www.jga-group.com/case-studies/case-study-transforming-public-health-provision-within-kent/
Programmes mentioned:
