The University of the Built Environment (UBE) is the leading online university in the built environment, and is committed to revitalising the approach to learning on degree apprenticeships, through immersive pedagogy and experience that provide the right kind of complement to the workplace experience of apprentices.

We supported UBE through 2025 to develop a strategic framework for developing new enhanced online programmes, with a specific focus on a new degree apprenticeship standard. Our goal was to address the historical gap between academic theory and the practical, high-pressure coordination required in the industry, and help UBE build its capabilities and reputation for innovation in vocational learning.

The new professional standard centred on the ability to integrate diverse pressures—from design and regulation to commercial realities and community needs. Traditional apprenticeship models often shield junior roles from multi-stakeholder misalignment and real-time coordination challenges, resulting in graduates who lack the opportunity to practice critical skills required for system integration. UBE's challenge was to shape a programme that safely exposed apprentices to this “dark matter” of professional practice, to develop the ethical, decision-making and multidisciplinary skills and understanding required by the new standard.

Unthinkable’s solution: codesign, prototyping, and immersive scenarios

We used our codesign methodology using dedicated, structured workshops with UBE academics, industry subject matter experts, and target students. This rigorous engagement validated the pedagogic gap and identified specific learning needs, leading to the creation of an innovative framework centred on immersive, scenario-based learning. As well as involving students in the codesign of this framework, we created a prototype of the learning experience which we taught students over the course of a fortnight in July 2025, including live sessions and asynchronous learning.

Students were placed in the role of an apprentice, shadowing a more senior colleague. Over intense sessions, they immediately faced developing crises: managing severe soil contamination, navigating evolving regulations, and handling community opposition simultaneously. This layered approach forced students to practise coordination under pressure using authentic industry documentation, which continued during asynchronous work between sessions where students were provided with a suite of digital tools to support individual and collaborative working. We delivered this enhanced learning experience with industry collaborators to ensure that we could rapidly assess the fidelity of the immersion and identify how the pilot might scale utilising real-world examples from industry.

How we helped: a scalable framework for design and delivery of learning

This intensive engagement and rapid prototyping resulted in a highly effective pilot study. Students reported feeling “very immersed” and found the scenarios “very relevant,” confirming the success of the immersive, codesigned methodology.

By translating the abstract requirements of the new professional standard into a practical, validated, and scalable learning design, Unthinkable has provided UBE with a comprehensive framework for the development of this and other programmes, and a strategic roadmap addressing near, medium and long term planning.

We gave Unthinkable a high-level brief and limited time to understand us as an organisation but they delivered a project of the highest quality with a tailored approach that responded directly to our needs. The output from the project addressed our specific requirements but also provided an enormously valuable insight into what the future could hold. The Unthinkable team delivered well beyond expectations.

Mike Speight, Director of Strategic Enterprise