Mechanical Engineer Review

I move around the business on 6 month placements in different teams, this can range from data handling, to physical machining, to project management and 3D modelling. Whichever are i am in a placement with, i usually shadow and learn from them for a short while first and then gradually take on a higher work load as i learn, with one of my weekdays being spent at university.

only learnt new things. and learnt many things that are irrelevant.

I would say that i enjoy the programme on a whole, but i am not too keen on the university side of the apprenticeship. I feel there is too much weight on the exams, i enjoy the modules and find the research and experimenting for coursework interesting, but the university has not prepared us well for exams and they also have ran our course with modules in the wrong order.

The organisation could use work, the structure in theory is great and the company tries to stick to this when they can, but the university of derby is rather ignorant to the fact they they are running our modules in a backwards order, and has taken two years fort them to even have a meeting with us, which is far too late for any drastic measures to be put in place.

The employer provides a lot of support in a variety of areas, whether this be any special requirements you need in your work and learning environment or any assistance you may need in regards to your own wellbeing, this is made possible thanks to ADLs who are the apprentices point of contact. But higher up, beyond the ADLs, it feels there is a lack of urgency when responding to serious matters.

The training provider has changed hands whilst being on the apprenticeship, which in-fact, has apparently changed hands multiple times before my course started, so there seems to be no solid support since you do not have chance to get to know those who can offer you support. The assessors frequently leave and new ones are introduced which again brings the same problems.

There is no such training from the training provider other than some practical training, which in my case is almost useless when working in office-based environments. Other than having an appreciation for the other departments it is not relevant. In all honesty, i dont have much idea as to the role of the training provider, it has never been fully explained to me, all knowledge and things to help me perform better, are picked up whilst on the job. University is also near irrelevant to the job.

Yes

opportunities, stable.

stick out the course the end result is far better than the experience as an apprentice. (in terms of opportunities and building your CV)