Maintenance engineer apprentiship Review

I am a maintenance engineer studying BTEC level 3 mechanical engineering 1 day a week which is mostly spent in classes and 4 days are spent in the workshop doing a manufacturing engineering programme level 3. The work in the workshop is done in groups of 12 which rotate to different areas every 4 weeks.

The work and the qualification we do in the workshop allows me to work on and improve my practical skills in the designated areas however, I see potential to do more and unfortunately I cannot. The BTEC lessons cover a lot of topics in the engineering field and supports well the overall qualification.

The programme has potential but many improvements must be made specially with management. The lack of communication between the college and BMW means we are expected to do things we cannot due to the program we are stuck to. The selection process is also poor so we are in a big group of people with abilities and knowledge significantly different.

Hiring company (BMW) and the college must communicate better in order to provide a better experience for us. A lot of misunderstandings happen such as situations where we are expected to do something we don't know how or don't have the resources to do. The application process needs more attention as there is plenty of information missing. This problem carries on as very little is told us about what we are going to be doing (specially qualifications).

Good support is given by the employer by

There are extra BTEC lessons offered such as extra maths and in multiple ocasions we are given time to work on anything we need which allows us to work on our weaknesses or catch up where we are late. Most of the time tutors in the workshop are aware of what is needed for the qualification and work with us to achieve that.

The qualification done in the workshop (EAL Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering) is very time consuming and not so effective. I feel that in the same amount of time much more can be done and learnt. A better selection of candidates would allow a better qualification to be done in my opinion.

There are plenty of extra-curricular activities and training available.

Yes

It would depend on their other options. I like the apprenticeship but I see a lot of room for improvement and sometimes is frustating to see management negleting some issues very relevant and focusing on other problem that are not as crucial.

Speak to people inside the programme such as managers and students or ex students to get as much infos as you can as at the beginning information is very poor communicated.