Signalling apprentice Review

My role is a signalling technician. It will be by role to carry out maintenance, fault finding and installations with signalling equipment on the railway. This is a safety critical role, which involves you to work as a team in all weathers.

I have learnt many new skills and developed existing skills which consist of leadership and confidence, which I gained from an ILM course. I have gained further skills in maths, and gained many skills in carrying out practical tasks.

I enjoy the programme, as everyone works as a team. Everyone supports each other and wants to do well which increases productivity in the classroom. It meet my expectations as it was a mixture of practical and theory classes. However I would have enjoyed slightly more practical classes related to the railway.

I feel valued by the company as we have many one to ones, with reviews on our performance. We also get positive AAR's from tutors for good work, which makes you feel valued. We also have safety briefings from network rail to let us know events that have happened to do with safety which is including us with their news.

The start of the year the programme started off to have been well organised and structured. however this changed slightly due to the movement of Network Rail at Portsmouth to Coventry. This was because instructors started to leave and courses got changed around, which got slightly confusing. However besides that there seems to be a lot of support when it is needed and a lot of the subjects we have taken have given us the building blocks for our next 2 years within the apprenticeship.

I have received all the support I have needed to be able to pass all assignments I have taken. A lot of support during practical subjects which has helped me gain some experience and knowledge in practical work.

I receive support from my employer. Which has enabled me to see my depot and inform me on my duties when I will be there for my year 2 and 3.

My salary meets my costs for being in Portsmouth. However I have had large phone bills for internet as the wifi is below average. In order to finish some of my assignments I have used my own internet which has cost money. This is because the wifi provided is poor.

There are many opportunities outside of work. A lot of these are leisure classes. For example the use of the gym, squash courts and football pitches. There are also opportunities other then this around the local town.

Yes

Because it is a good job to have. I have enjoyed my journey so far, and believe will have a good career within network rail. They employ a lot of people and concentrate on the health and safety and wellbeing of their staff. It will be a good job for a life time career.

The application process is long, however it is worthwhile. There is plenty to do while at the academy and you receive a lot of support from instructors. The food isn't up to standard, however it is free.