“It was a leap of faith… I’ve never looked back”: From completing to teaching a Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship

“My first management experience was really scary,” says Dawn Fletcher-Wilde CMgr MCMI, senior lecturer and programme lead for leadership programmes within the School of Nursing and Midwifery at the University of Bolton. “I just thought: ‘I’m way out of my depth.’

“[Over time], you just evolve in the role,” she adds. “However, I think you need good support. If I’d had something like this at the beginning of my journey, would I be a different manager? Absolutely.”

By “something like this”, Dawn is referring to Chartered Manager status, which she attained on completion of the BSc (Hons) business management: health and social care as a Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship (CMDA) at Bolton in 2020.

“I think I would have developed my confidence and all those other skills and abilities much earlier on,” she adds.

• “It changed my life”: The power of the Chartered Management Degree Apprenticeship

A leap of faith

Despite Dawn’s impressive credentials as a lecturer and programme leader, she came to academia late. It was only after completing the CMDA herself that she ever thought about teaching. Initially returning to teach one day a week on the course she had just completed (she was awarded first-class honours, passed her End Point Assessment (EPA) with flying colours and won a governor’s prize for highest achievement), she later, in December 2021, took up a full-time position as a senior lecturer.

“While doing the course, I really found a passion for academia and learning. I didn’t want my studying to stop,” Dawn says.