Apprentice Review

Level 3 track apprentice, day to day work includes doing general maintenance jobs on the track, for example restoring geometry and reprofiling ballast. Being an apprentice i also spend days doing training and writing up coursework.

I am constantly learning new skills and learning new standards. In the first year you learn a lot with online learning and a training school from an external provider. It’s ok but bear in mind not many the lecturers have rail knowledge but they do come from engineering backgrounds. During the second year at your depot you will begin to learn lots of rail knowledge from your colleges

I really enjoy learning new skills and know I am in a good career for life knowing I have a good job that can take me anywhere. There is a lot of options of what you want to do in network rail. I enjoy staying away from training courses and meeting new people and having a good time with them.

The first year of the program with the external provider can be hectic with the amount of training then going to depot and working out on track with your team. But second year onwards it all the training slows done and you have time to work out on track with your team and complete all your NVQs coursework

The apprenticeship coaches are amazing they are quick to answer questions and try and find the best outcomes, and will help with any need you have. The external provider for training can sometimes be slow on marking assignments and not really give great feedback but you can contact the apprenticeship coaches and they will try and get it sorted. My manager and team leaders has also been very supportive putting me on relevant placements and ensuring I am fitting well into the team and are always willing to push me to give everything a go

Network rail assessors are great with the feedback on NVQ Submissions. They are on hand to answer any questions. The year one work feedback done by the external training company was hit and miss depending who was marking it but overall I personally didn’t have too many problems.

The assignments are sometimes word heavy and it is a heavy workload but it’s all knowledge in general engineering and some rail engineering stuff that is relevant to your job.

When on courses a lot of us apprentices meet up to do some social activities. There are opportunities to go to some professional networking events such as team briefs and rail live but it depends on your location of work and what your teams does

Yes

Variety of work no two days are the same and there is lots of avenues to go down in terms of jobs and progression

If you manage to get through to the assessment Centre then really put yourself out there. Be engaging. Be enthusiastic. Show how much you want it. Don't be afraid to ask questions and get involved.