Apprentice heavy vehicle technician Review

As an apprentice heavy vehicle technician it is my job to learn as much as possible about the trade and to assist where I can. I am usually teamed with an apprentice master who teaches me through practical instruction. I am set tasks to complete and supervised while doing them. I am also expected to do lots of odd jobs that others don't want to do, such as sweeping and cleaning.

I am not from an engineering background and none of my previous work has been in this field at all, so everything I now know about vehicle maintenance and engineering has been learnt while on this apprenticeship. This includes basic skills such as using different tools and problem solving on a vehicle.

This is a tricky question. I enjoy the programme when I am actually paired with a mentor that is willing to teach and is happy to have an apprentice. However the way things are run on site this is not often. Currently I have no mentor, this is because management has failed to secure an appropriate amount of mentors given the amount of apprentices. Whenever I ask to resolve this, everyone brushes it off and says it is someone else's job to sort out. This is the standard response to any problem within Babcock.

The structure of the apprentice programme within Babcock is extremely poor. No one seems to take ownership of any problems that apprentices have, as the management structure is far to complicated. It really seems the only reason Babcock employ apprentices is to claim the levy and look like they are doing the right thing. I am half way through my apprenticeship and do not feel well supported. The college are doing the best they can but even they are struggling to communicate/organise with Babcock.

The amount of support we receive is very minimal. We now have a direct manager who is "responsible" for apprentices on site. But he is from external to the company and seriously struggles to understand the way the company is structured and who has what authority. Any problems we go to him with are answered with "I don't know, I'll have to look into that one". And we rarely get a straight answer. Also there seems to be wildly different rules for different sites, such as claiming travel expenses, and time of in lieu for travel time to college.

The college are working hard I feel to get us to pass our end point assessments. We are the first group that has been to then for a heavy vehicle course and they are having to learn themselves how to deliver that course, as they have never run it before. All the teachers are knowledgeable, however barely any of them have relevant heavy vehicle experience and are trying their best to adapt what they know, to fit what we need to know.

What I have learned at college has definitely helped me perform better at work. Having a good theory knowledge of how vehicles/engines/brakes etc work really helps me when it comes to the practical jobs in the workshop. I learn best when I can put theory into practice and visually see what I have been learning about, in a real world setting.

So for, in 18 months I have not heard of a single extra-curricular activity that my site runs. Other than the annual Christmas do. There was plenty of talk early on about an apprentice team building day, such as go karting or paintball but it never actually happened, despite there being a budget for it. I suspect Covid will now be blamed for that.

No

I would not recommend Babcock to a friend because of how my apprenticeship has been run so far and how out of the loop I feel. I am worried about passing my final end point assessment as I am now half way through my course and feel that I still only know the basics. I don't feel that the workplace is supporting what the college need us to do. 80% of practical work is meant to be completed at the workplace, this is not happening. Because the types of vehicles we have and work that we do is not supportive of the college programme.

For anyone applying to Babcock as an apprentice I would say to be prepared to take full control of your own apprenticeship and to be proactive. Even though you won't know how to do that. Because of the way my site is run and the lack of care given to apprentices, I am having to be very proactive in terms of putting myself with experienced people on the shop floor, as management are unable to organise an efficient work rotation. I would also advise anyone to be confident and to ask as many questions as possible because if you don't, you will soon be confused and fall behind.