Engineering Technician Review

In the first year, Mondays are BTEC days where you spend half the day with one tutor doing subjects like Electronics, Communication, Health and Safety and PLC's and the other half with another tutor doing Maths, Mechanics and Materials. This is a nice start to the week since it eases you into spending the rest of the week doing practical things in the workshop. Since I have come from A Levels and am doing the degree apprenticeship, a fair amount of the content has already been covered, but there is always something new to be learned in each topic. Tuesday to Friday is spent in the workshop downstairs. You are split into groups each of which will do separate 4 week rotations. These include hand fitting, electrical, welding, machining (either milling or turning), fluid power, electronics, mechanics, machining (the remaining machining task left) and PLC's. Each of these rotations comes with its own unique challenges and I enjoyed learning practically on all of these. Hand fitting can become repetitive due to the amount of time it takes to complete tasks, but it is very satisfying to finally complete a project. On Thursday, the Level 6 apprentices have an extra maths lesson at 10:00-12:00. This is to complete the entire BTEC in one year, which is normally completed in two. By doing so, we are then able to complete the 3 year degree. There is some repetition in topics covered by A Level maths and physics again, but there is again always something new to be learning. All of the BTEC work is assessed through completing assignments which are just a set of questions that you generally have around two weeks to complete. You can choose to do most, if not all of the assignments at work if you get on with it, so that you don't have to do it at home. In terms of independent projects, it is what you make of it. If you want to seek out extra projects, then that is entirely possible and encouraged, so long as you are able to complete your normal BTEC assignments too. Each day starts at 08:00, but ends at different times. Monday finishes at 17:00, Tuesday at 16:30, Wednesday at 16:00, Thursday at 16:00 and Friday is a half day finishing at 13:30. This is a really nice structure to the week as generally the next day is shorter than the last. Overall, the week is very enjoyable and there is always something to be working on.

I have learnt a considerable number of skills already in the first year of the apprenticeship. Primarily, these have been all the practical skills on the workshop rotations mentioned previously. However, we have also done a lot of work on health and safety, communication and business improvement, which is vital to understand in any manufacturing workplace. There are also many internal training courses to go on, but generally these are completed in years 2-4 as there is not much time to do these courses in year one. The combination of a multitude of new practical skills and more business focused skills makes this really stand out compared to standard higher education, such as university.

I personally very much enjoy this apprenticeship and am very much looking forward to the complete change that is year 2. In the second year, you are studying for your degree whilst being on placement around the plant, so you are finally able to get some proper work done. There is generally a good work load which is nearly always kept interesting with a good mix of theory and practice. The company does want to take care of you and it always feels nice to know how much they are investing in the apprenticeship program, as it keeps you feeling like you are wanted in the company. Of course, this relies on you working hard too. There is also a union at work which you are encouraged to join which is always a good thing. Sometimes the work has been a little boring as I have already covered it, or I have completed it quite quickly. However, as I have said before, if you seek out work, there will always be something for you to be getting on with. For example, I have been involved in making an apprentice intranet page, an internal newsletter and a possible AI project with IBM. Of course, there is a major benefit of having a car scheme. You do have to be 18 and to have passed your test to get on it, but for me I was able to get a car in around 2 months so I was able to independently get to work. It was incredibly tricky to weigh up between going to university or to do this apprenticeship, but I am very glad with my choice. The feeling of independence and progression you get when starting an actual job with a real salary is not comparable to university.

Overall, the programme is well structured. The week has a good balance work and the training and support is very good. Any tutor will always be happy to answer any question you have. The induction was fairly extensive due to the amount of health and safety we had to learn and the whole layout of the building, but that was a good thing. Though, there have been a few things which it seems like you are expected to just know or find out for yourself - in particular with the intranet. I was personally able to work most of it out, but it has been hard for other people. This should be changing, however, due to the new apprentice intranet page which will include FAQ's and tutorials. There should also be information on the apprenticeship that may not have been given to you at the start. Organisation of the programme has, on the whole, been quite good. However, sometimes things are just sprung on us without much notice which can impact our workshop time, such as a visit to the workshop where everything then has to be cleaned and so on. It would be better to have more communication between BMW and BMET. There are regular review meetings with BMET and BMW which is an opportunity to raise any concerns or ask any questions that you may have and shows they care about your progress.

There is a considerable amount of support from BMW Mini, whether it is through the tutors, the HR department, the union, your placement manager or the training department. If there are any questions unrelated to BMET work, there is always someone to contact or go and speak to in the BMW Training office. Furthermore, there is a dedicated mental well being group within the plant that is always open for support.

There is always substantial support from the tutors, as they will always stop to answer any questions and go through things again with you until you understand it. This applies to both all of the Monday BTEC work and any work that is being done in the workshop. Sometimes you may have to wait a little to be able to ask a question, but that is because they are busy helping someone else.

It is quite hard to gauge this at the moment as you do not do any placement in the first year. However, it is clear to see that all of the rotations in the workshop and all of the theoretical work you do is fundamental to any engineering role. I would say I have learnt a lot about the manufacturing process and have got to appreciate the colossal job that is nearly any engineering project.

There are a good number of extra-curricular events that you can get involved in which are primarily through the house charity, so you raise money at the same time. In the past there has been involvement with the Cowley Road Carnival, Tri Peaks challenge, Tough Mudder, Skydive and Marathons name to name a few. There is a football team to join, but people have also made their own on top of that. Additionally, there is an on-site gym that is only £15 a month which has everything you need in it and is well maintained. Oxford Martial Arts Academy is also very close to the plant and is a fantastic place to train. Oxford is a busy place to be in, so there is always something to do.

Yes

It is an incredibly good company to work for that will always offer you more if you are willing to do it. The first year gives you a great foundation to then build on an put into practice in the rest of the apprenticeship. For me, the ability to do a degree whilst having all of the practical skills and work experience, whilst getting paid with a pension is such a good deal. To add on this, knowing that if you put the work in, there is nearly always a job waiting for you at the end is great. In terms of the salary, there is a pay rise every 6 months where the first one of each calendar year is a fairly large increase, and the second one is a smaller bump. It may feel a little bit tight at the start, particularly if you are moving out, but the pay rises will then catch up turning into a really good salary. The car scheme is a massive bonus as well, of course, and there are also opportunities to work abroad, particularly in Munich, which is a very exciting prospect. Although an apprenticeship is inherently a different social experience to university, there is still plenty of time at the weekends to go and see mates with the help of a separate car scheme for long distance vehicle testing. With this, you can take out a car for the weekend, so long as you drive 400 miles.

The main piece of advice I would have for the assessment day is to make sure you have a project that you have completed that you can talk about. Secondly, make sure you have plenty of questions to ask both about the apprenticeship and about the company as a whole. To do this, make sure you have done some research into the company beforehand so that your questions are relevant and are interesting. Be confident, but not cocky and make sure you know you want to be there, but I'm almost completely sure you will want to be.