Member Article

Yorkshire youngsters engineering UK-leading success

Leeds College of Building’s Advanced Apprenticeship in Civil Engineering has become the most successful course of its kind in the UK, taking on over 50 students with half already being recruited by some of Yorkshire’s top engineering firms.

Leeds College of Building was the first college outside London to offer the Civil Engineering Advanced Technician Apprenticeship in 2011, with the support of the Institution of Civil Engineering (ICE), the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) and the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE).

The Civil Engineering Advanced Technician Apprenticeship Employer Consortium, a group of engineering companies, also launched as part of the scheme and representatives from various employers within the consortium have recently met with students at a recruitment event hosted by Leeds College of Building.

Firms in the consortium taking on the 16-18 year old apprentices include Arup, AECOM, Hyder, Adept, Grontmij, Buro Happold, Pell Frischmann, Anders Troup & Bywater, WSP, Tata Steel and Atkins Global.

Leeds College of Building’s higher education faculty director, Brian Duffy, said: “This year numbers on Civil and Building Services Engineering Advanced Technician Apprenticeship have increased three-fold which makes our consortium here in Yorkshire the most successful in the UK. Employers involved include both national and international companies as well as SMEs that are all committed to recruiting and training the building services engineers and civil engineers of the future and we’re delighted with the numbers enrolling on the course this year.

“The success of the course is down to the fact that it spans a variety of engineering disciplines and offers a wide range of employment options as well as providing an exceptional standard of training.”

Bethany Wilson recently became the first person in the UK to complete the programme and was on hand at the consortium meeting to offer advice to the new apprentices. She is now studying for the Higher Level Apprenticeship in Sustainable Built Environment (HASBE) at Leeds College of Building which provides university level learning through the HND Civil Engineering pathway together with a work based learning NVQ5 Diploma.

The 19 year old currently works as a transport planning technician at Halcrow, part of CH2MHILL. She Bethany commented: “I really enjoyed the advanced apprenticeship and it’s already opening career routes up for me in my current role as a highways engineering technician. It has also enabled me to start studying for the HASBE and it’s great to be able to share my experiences with those who are now starting the course.”

On completion of the course, students achieve a BTEC Level 3 Diploma in Construction and the Built Environment (Civil Engineering).

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Anna Addison .