Railway Signal Engineering Apprentice Review

As a first Year apprentice I spend everyday studying for my BTEC GNVQ and ILM qualifications whilst living down at HMS Collingwood and Sultan.

I have learnt many new skills and am studying for qualifications. The BTEC and GNVQ are in Electrical engineering specifically centred around the Rialway and I have also completed my ILM level 2 certificate with level 3 to be completed in yeaRS 2 and 3.

I have enjoyed learning new skills that I didn't have before and the practical elements are good fun too. I am also enjoying living on the Naval Base

I think the company values its apprentices as it keeps telling us how much they are investing in us.

I think the program is fairly well structurd although there is a lot of work to do in the first year as we are working towards 3 qualifications at once. This involes working most Saturday mornings also

Our training provider is Babcock International. In some areas they are good but They have some staffing issues which has made it difficult to get suitable instruction and coursework marked on many occasions

Network Rail have generally been very good although we do not have much contact with them in the first year as most of our training is provided by Babcock

It does meet them fairly well. Although the salary in the first year is quite low still all accommodation, food and travel are all paid for whilst we are down here in Portsmouth so our money is just for us to spend.

There are many opportunities to get involved on the base with Navy programs and gym facilities.

Yes

Overall I feel it is a very good apprenticeship where you are well looked after compared to others and there are good job prospects at the end.

There are a lot of assessments and interviews but They are also very keen on Diversity so don't let it put you off if you think you may not pass the tests. They will give almost anyone a chance.