Degree Apprenticeship Opens Pathway to Model Making Careers

Published 23rd March 2026

Design and technology teachers recently joined a webinar exploring an exciting new route into the creative industries, the ‘Modelmaking for Industry Degree Apprenticeship’, delivered by Arts University Bournemouth in partnership with leading architecture practice Foster + Partners and other industry partners. The session introduced teachers to the growing role of apprenticeships within creative and design sectors, highlighting how degree apprenticeships combine academic study with real workplace experience.

A New Route into the Creative Industries

The webinar was led by Arts University Bournemouth lecturers Will Strange and Claire Holman, who outlined how the programme offers students a different pathway into careers in design and making.

Arts University Bournemouth has a long history of delivering specialist creative courses and has run model making programmes for more than 30 years. The university is now expanding into degree apprenticeships, giving students the opportunity to develop industry skills alongside academic study.

What Is Model Making?

The session also explored the profession of model making, a highly skilled but often hidden industry that plays an important role across many sectors. Model makers create detailed three-dimensional representations for a wide range of industries and applications. Their work can be seen in architecture and urban planning, product design and engineering, film and animation, museums and exhibitions, marketing and advertising, as well as medical and educational settings.

These projects rely on a wide range of technical processes including CNC machining, 3D printing, digital fabrication and traditional hand-making techniques. Although model makers may work in a specific industry, their skills are highly transferable. Techniques used to build architectural models, for example, may also be applied in film prop making, product prototyping or exhibition design.

Industry Insight from Foster + Partners

The webinar also featured insight from Diane Teague, Assistant Head of Modelmaking and Neil Vandersteen, Head of Modelmaking from Foster + Partners, one of the world’s leading architecture and design studios. Founded by architect Norman Foster in 1967, the practice works on major projects across the world, from bridges and airports to towers and large-scale masterplans. Within the practice, specialist teams support the design process in areas such as materials research, modelmaking, engineering and visual communications. The model making department plays a key role in turning architectural ideas into physical objects, helping teams test designs and communicate proposals to clients.

Across their workshops and studios, the team produces hundreds of architectural models each year, using a combination of traditional skills and advanced digital manufacturing technologies including CNC machining and industrial 3D printing.

Foster + Partners currently employs apprentices within its model making department, providing mentoring and hands-on training while they study with Arts University Bournemouth. The apprentices contribute to live projects while learning from experienced model makers, gaining skills in materials, fabrication techniques and design interpretation. Employers involved in the programme hope the apprenticeship will help strengthen the UK’s model making sector and encourage more companies to invest in training new talent.

Supporting Career Pathways in D&T

The apprenticeship offers an example of how making, design thinking and digital fabrication skills taught in school can lead to diverse careers. The programme highlights how students interested in practical making can pursue both academic and workplace-based routes into the creative sector.

Teachers interested in the apprenticeship were encouraged to explore the national apprenticeship standards and occupational maps to better understand the growing range of opportunities available for young people.

The conversation also touched on the New Blades exhibition, an annual model-making showcase and recruitment event held in London. The exhibition brings together graduating students, universities and industry professionals, providing a valuable platform for emerging talent to demonstrate their work and connect with potential employers.

For more information visit:

National Apprenticeship Standards and Occupational Maps

Find out more about the Modelmaking Apprenticeship (Foster + Partners)

Find out more about the Modelmaking Apprenticeship (AUB)

Find out more about New Blades 2026

© Images: Aaron Hargreaves (Foster + Partners); Sophie Percival (Post21); Nigel Young (Foster + Partners)