Neil Fowkes
Head of Training – Apprenticeships, AMTC
In November we celebrated the two-year anniversary of the opening of the Lloyds Bank Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre and the new home of the MTC apprenticeship programme.
First launched in 2011, the programme’s inaugural intake comprised of four learners. Fast forward to 2017 and our cohort of apprentices is up to 39, including four females – the highest since the programme began.
Over the last six years we’ve trained over 180 apprentices, with our 2011-2015 learners now in full time employment within the Advanced Manufacturing industry. Our 2014 apprentices are also now working towards completing their Level 3 NVQ’s in the workplace with a planned completion date of February 2018.
Looking towards our future cohort, we had a very promising response from our recent Open Evening in October, with more than 200 young people, parents and guardians in attendance – the busiest to date. After such an encouraging start, we have since scheduled our second Open Evening of the academic year for Thursday 14 December.
For the first time since launching the MTC apprenticeship programme, this year has also seen us bring our 2017 cohort straight into the AMTC for their foundation year of training; in previous years this has taken place at a local college, so our apprentices now have access to our state-of-the-art facilities from the very start of their apprenticeship. This year has also seen a change of emphasis for our programme and we are now able to deliver the new Apprenticeship Trailblazer Level 3 Engineering Technician qualification.
Most recently, all 36 of our current second years went out on their first industry placement. Apprentices joined a number of local companies that specialise in one of the three themed areas, Automation, CNC and Metrology. This part of the programme remains central to their academic and professional development, whilst also building their network within the industry.
So as apprenticeships continue to grow in popularity across an increasing number of sectors, we continue to demonstrate that manufacturing is no exception. With a record number of prospects attending our Open Evenings, existing apprentices gaining valuable industry knowledge and experience, and our graduates entering full time employment, it’s a very exciting time for MTC Apprenticeships.