Railway Signal Engineering Apprentice Review

Maintenance and fault repair of the railway signalling systems including, signals, points, automatic warning and braking systems and train detections systems.

I learnt many new skills due the unique nature of the railways and its systems. I also developed many existing skills in team work and leadership. As well as developing skills in problem solving

I thoroughly enjoyed this program in years 2 and 3 when I was working out in the field with the engineers, However year 1 living on a navel base and being treated like a child was awful.

I felt very valued by thee apprentice program managers and the people up in head office making out we were the stars of the show. in the depot it is a different story as many old boys in the industry take a strong dislike to fast track apprentices destined for management

Yeah 1 was a bit disorganised at times and could be very slow paced in the learning having to go at the slowest person in the classes pace. Years 2 and 3 were also a bit of a mess my year due to quite a few s+t instructors leaving and not being replaced

Year 1 was provided by Babcock International who are very disorganised and most of the instructors didn't care at all about teaching us (except 1 or 2 excellent ones) Years 2 and 3 were network rail and the instructors were good although the program management and support staff were not helpful

After the first year not a great deal. Most of the staff in the depots are not interested in the coursework you have to complete or helping you gather the information you need to do it. (its ok if you personally make friends with peope who are willing to help you but no structured support)

Its ok if you are a school leaver and have no other financial commitments but as a mature student the low wages- particularly in the first year - can be very tight financially.

In the first year stuck on the naval base unless you are really into sport there is nothing else on offer and its very dull. Years 2 and 3 it depends on who you make friends with. not much on offer officially through the company

Yes

I would recommend it to a young person with thick skin as there is potential for a very good career if you can brush off attitude from old boys who dislike fast track management. I wouldn't recommend this route for mature students unless you can stand 3 years of being treated like you are in junior boarding school and can deal with the anti apprentice attitude in the depot

It's a long tough application process to get in. Whether you do or not is more dependant on the area you live and the volume of applicants in that area than your intelligence, skills or ability. You can fail every stage of the process pretty much and still get in if you are the only one in your area that applied but if you live in an area with lots of competition you can be brilliant and still lose out.