Engineering Degree Apprentice - Aero Review

I rotate through business placements every 6 months to get a range of experience. Placements are available in Design, Services, Tests and any other field you can arrange. Other than this my role as an apprentice is obviously to keep on top of my training and University learning

I have definitely developed my computer skills and have picked up skills in a range of software since i have joined, including CAD and Product life-cycle Management. I also developed my knowledge and skills of manufacturing by use of Milling and turning machines, both by hand and by CNC.

I enjoy it a lot. The teams in the business placement are welcoming and supportive and the apprentice network is strong. The Apprentice Association used to run many social events, obviously that hasn't been the same this last year. It can be a lot of hard work however balancing business workload, university studies and NVQ commitments, it can be difficult to squeeze in social time.

Fairly poorly. This has got better through the course of my scheme as i am in the 3rd year, however we were the first cohort of apprentices doing my course and so there were a fair few teething issues and many instances that organisation was poor, as well as communication between the business, the college and the Lead Training provider.

A good amount. Our Apprentice manager is quick to jump onto and solve problems caused by the failure of communication between higher management at the company and the training provider.

Not a great amount. The training provider is prone to changing our timetable at short notice, and sometimes the slots we've been told to attend have no lecturer present. They have started to give us some better guidance ahead of our end point assessment, but it all feels a bit last minute and scrambling together

It does help. Before doing a business placement in Design i had previously completed University coursework involving CAD software so i was familiar enough to hit the ground running in that job.

Yes, the Apprentice Association is a good network of apprentices and grads who organise and can arrange discounts for social events, from pub nights to paintballing days. The placement teams are also typically very social and like to meet up occasionally outside of work. Obviously this has been different (fairly non-existent) in the last year.

Yes

The workplace skills you develop are invaluable and once you are in the business placements you really feel motivated and enthused as you are fully treated like part of the company and are contributing valuable work that helps the business progress

Apply early as it is a competitive application process, and demonstrating true passion and interest is more valuable in the application than demonstrating technical knowledge.