Key Impact Metrics at a Glance

Foreword

Volume 1 of the WBLI established the baseline: 108 Nigerians assessed before a live intervention, revealing a sharp gap between awareness and demand. The awareness was low. The demand was near universal. The gap was infrastructure, not attitude.

Volume 2 answers the next question: does a single structured intervention move the needle? On 16 May 2026, Apprentis and Insure Africa hosted a two hour live webinar, Breaking Into the Workforce: Internships, Apprenticeships, and How it Actually Works, delivered virtually to students and early career professionals across Nigeria. Twenty participants completed both the pre session and post session assessments, forming the matched cohort for this study.

What the data shows is not a marginal nudge. Overall scores rose by 12.9 percentage points in a single session. Awareness and knowledge scores rose by 14.2 points. Perception and credibility rose by 15.5 points. The proportion who correctly identified what a degree apprenticeship involves went from 30% to 80%. A single conversation corrected a misconception held by the majority of this cohort for their entire education.

The participant who wrote that they had no idea about apprenticeships before, and now had a deeper insight into how broad and beneficial the insurance sector is, was not an outlier. They were representative. And the one who said they had been confused since graduation and needed a guide, they were the reason this forum existed.

We also introduced the Apprentis readiness toolkit during this session: our AI agent, Apprentis Connect, Apprentis Learn, and the free readiness assessment. Every resource we introduced is free. We built them because we know what it costs to face these barriers without any infrastructure behind you. One webinar. Two hours. Twenty matched respondents. A 12.9 point shift. This is what instrumented, evidence based intervention looks like on the African continent. And it is only the beginning.

Executive Summary

This report presents the Nigeria Impact Study, the second volume of the Sub Saharan Work Based Learning Index. It documents the before and after shift in awareness, knowledge, perception, and demand among 20 Nigerian participants who completed both a pre session assessment and a post session assessment following a live structured intervention on 16 May 2026. The intervention was a two hour virtual webinar co hosted by Apprentis and Insure Africa.

One session changed what 20 people understood, believed, and were willing to do. That is not inspiration. That is measurable infrastructure change.
Iyioluwa Adesan, Founder, Apprentis

Four headline findings define this study:

• Overall scores rose from 55.6% to 68.5%, a 12.9 percentage point shift across all dimensions following a single two hour session.
• Correct understanding of the degree apprenticeship model rose from 30% to 80%. A misconception held by 70% of the cohort before the webinar was corrected by a single conversation.
• Definite openness to an earn while you learn pathway rose from 35% to 70%. Ambivalence and opposition collapsed from 30% to 5%.
• 100% of participants rated the webinar Good or Excellent. 95% say they are likely or extremely likely to actively explore degree apprenticeship opportunities as a direct result.

1. The Intervention

On 16 May 2026 from 9:00 to 11:00 AM WAT and UK BST, Apprentis and Insure Africa co hosted a live virtual webinar on Google Meet. The session was designed for students and young professionals seeking to understand and access structured work based learning pathways, with a particular focus on the insurance, risk, and finance sectors.

The session opened with an HR perspective from Aderonke Agunbiade, recognised in 2024 as Rookie of the Year and Employee Engagement Champion at Assurance Brokers Limited. Her segment addressed positioning, visibility, and what employers actually look for: that jobs are not scarce but clarity is, that a degree gets a candidate into the room but skills, competence, and values are what keep them there, and that internships build the credibility and CV foundation that precedes a structured career pathway.

Iyioluwa Adesan, Founder of Apprentis, then opened the Apprentis segment with the origin story of the organisation, built from lived experience of facing financial barriers to university as an international student and eventually securing a four year Digital and Technology Solutions degree apprenticeship at NatWest in partnership with BPP University. Bolu Olawoye followed with his own story of dropping out of a traditional engineering degree during the Covid 19 lockdown to pursue a degree apprenticeship at Howden Group Holdings, one of the world's largest insurance brokers, in partnership with the University of East London.

Two day in the life accounts followed, one from a finance and technology perspective at NatWest covering the 80:20 split between client facing project work and university study days, and one from an insurance perspective at Howden covering the broker submission and quotation process. The session then directly addressed the myths circulating in the Nigerian market, that apprenticeships are for trade jobs only, that they do not lead to real degrees, and that they are a second class route, correcting each with evidence. A dedicated segment mapped the breadth of roles within insurance: broking, underwriting, actuarial, claims handling, and technology. The final segment introduced the full Apprentis readiness toolkit and closed with a live Q&A.

117 people registered for the webinar in the 11 days following the announcement. On the day, 32 to 35 people attended live. The lower live turnout was attributed to a scheduling clash with the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria Insurance Week. The 20 person matched pre and post cohort that forms the basis of this report is drawn from those who attended live and completed both assessments.

2. Methodology and Cohort Profile

This study uses a matched pre and post design. Twenty participants completed the Apprentis Pre Session Skills Assessment before the 16 May 2026 webinar and the Apprentis Post Session Assessment within 48 hours of its conclusion. Both instruments are anchored to the same five dimension framework. Because the same 20 individuals completed both instruments, the delta figures in this report reflect actual individual level shift.

The cohort is 11 current students, 4 early career professionals, and 4 recent graduates, with 1 respondent in a transition state post completion. This is overwhelmingly a pre career cohort at the precise inflection point where accurate information about pathways has the highest impact. Three material limitations apply: at 20 matched respondents the study is directionally strong but not powered for subgroup analysis, participants self selected by attending a voluntary Saturday session, and the post assessment captured immediate impact rather than sustained behavioural change, which is the logical next research question for Volume 3.

3. The LEO Framework: Learn, Earn, Own

Apprentis structures its research, platform design, and intervention architecture around a three stage model: Learn, Earn, Own. The framework was developed from the lived experience of degree apprenticeship, and it adds ownership of one's career trajectory as an explicit, measurable outcome. The Nigeria study maps cleanly onto all three stages, with the most striking outcome at the Own stage, where participants moved from theoretical demand to active intent in a single session.

4. Pre Session Findings

The pre session assessment establishes the baseline from which all shift measurements are calculated. The pre session Awareness and Knowledge score of 41.0% is the standout figure: at less than half the possible score, it reflects a cohort with strong interest but very limited factual knowledge of the model they were interested in. Combined, 60% had limited or no meaningful awareness of apprenticeships before the session.

The single most important pre session finding concerns the model itself. Only 6 of 20 respondents (30%) could correctly identify that a degree apprenticeship means earning a degree while working full time and being paid. Six respondents (30%) believed it was an unpaid placement, the precise opposite of its defining characteristic. In total, 70% of the cohort entered the webinar with a materially wrong or absent understanding of the model. Despite this, pre session demand was already significant: 70% were positively inclined toward an earn while you learn pathway, 60% already considered it as credible as a university degree, and 85% confirmed that lack of funding had caused them or someone they know to delay or abandon higher education.

5. Post Session Findings

The post session assessment was completed by all 20 matched participants within 48 hours of the webinar. Every dimension moved in the positive direction. The two largest gains, Awareness and Knowledge at 14.2pp and Perception and Credibility at 15.5pp, correspond precisely to the two dimensions most directly addressed by the session content.

The misconception was corrected at scale. Understanding of the degree apprenticeship model moved from 30% correct pre session to 80% correct post session. This is the most consequential data point in the study, because the belief that apprenticeships are unpaid is the single most effective barrier to demand. If someone believes the model is unpaid, they will not pursue it. Correcting that one fact at scale is a strategic lever, not a communications exercise.

Demand was activated, not merely nudged. Post session, 70% said they would definitely consider an earn while you learn pathway, up from 35%. The combined positive rate moved from 70% to 95%, and the unsure or negative segment collapsed from 30% to 5%. 100% of participants rated the webinar Good or Excellent, with 15 rating it Excellent and 5 rating it Good. 95% said they are likely or extremely likely to explore degree apprenticeship opportunities, and all 20 opted into the Apprentis community.

6. Pre and Post Comparison

This section places the importance of earn while you learn within the LEO Financial Inclusion and Equity dimension side by side. Post session, Very important rose from 50% to 90%, absorbing eight respondents who had previously held a more moderate view. The Somewhat important category was entirely eliminated. This is the Earn stage activation in quantitative form: once participants understood the model concretely, the perceived importance of earning while learning as an access mechanism rose sharply.

7. Mapping the Pilot to the LEO Framework

The Nigeria Pilot Study is not merely measured against the LEO framework; the framework is what the intervention was designed to advance. Each stage was targeted by specific session content, and each stage delivered.

8. The Apprentis Readiness Toolkit

During the webinar, Apprentis introduced its full suite of free readiness resources. Every tool below is available at no cost to students at apprentisapp.com. This was the Own stage of the LEO framework made tangible: participants were given the instruments to act immediately on the awareness and demand the session had activated.

No more excuses. The tools exist. The resources are free. The community is waiting. Make sure you utilise them to the best of your ability.
Iyioluwa Adesan, live at the 16 May webinar

9. Participant Voice

The post session survey asked participants for their single biggest takeaway. The responses below are presented unedited. They speak directly to which elements of the LEO framework landed and what the session meant to people who entered it with limited or incorrect information.

10. What the Data Means

The central argument of Volume 1 was that the gap in Nigeria is informational, not attitudinal. Volume 2 confirms that diagnosis and validates the intervention model. A two hour structured session shifted the composite score by 12.9 points, corrected the dominant misconception from 70% wrong to 80% right, and drove definite demand from 35% to 70%. If the gap were attitudinal, rooted in cultural resistance or preference for tradition, a single session would not move these numbers.

The misconception was the barrier. If you believe the model is unpaid, you will not pursue it, you will not recommend it, and you will not ask employers about it. The misconception was functionally equivalent to the model not existing. Moving correct understanding from 30% to 80% is the single most operationally significant number in this report. Demand is already activated: 95% say they are likely or extremely likely to explore opportunities, and all 20 opted into the community. The theoretical demand captured in Volume 1 at 97% conviction has now converted to active intent at 95%.

Before the session, 70% thought apprenticeships were unpaid placements or trade skills. After, 80% knew they were paid degrees. One conversation inverted the majority understanding.

11. Strategic Implications

Appendix: Full Pre and Post Data Summary

The Sub Saharan Work Based Learning Index · WBLI Volume 2: Nigeria Impact Study · 22 June 2026 · © 2026 Apprentis and Insure Africa · apprentisapp.com · All rights reserved