Apprenticeship boost as Network Rail offers 140 new opportunities

Published on : Friday, September 16, 2016

110-300x200Network Rail expands its award winning Advanced Apprenticeship Scheme and pledges to recruit 140 new apprentices to start training in March 2017.The three-year scheme will now offer 300 young people the chance to “earn while they learn” in 2017. Apprentices will be recruited in two intakes – in March and September – gaining valuable work experience, transferable skills and recognised qualifications.

 

As well as the 50 per cent increase in the number of opportunities available over the year, Network Rail has moved the Advanced Apprenticeship to a new home at its modern training and development centre near Coventry in the West Midlands. Apprentices will spend the first five months of the three-year scheme at the training centre, specialising in one of five areas:, electrification and plant, overhead lines, signalling, telecoms or track. They then move to their local depots to learn through on-the-job training on the railway’s front line, gaining knowledge and vital skills from experienced team members, complemented by additional off-railway learning throughout the rest of their time on the scheme.

 
Network Rail group HR director, Ian Iceton said: “Network Rail has been committed to providing opportunities for young people to develop and progress into a rewarding career for more than ten years. Britain’s railways are one of this country’s success stories and apprentices are a vital part of our 36,000-strong team working to deliver our £40 billion Railway Upgrade Plan to make our railway better and bigger.

 

“I urge anyone that has the determination, talent and enthusiasm to work in a role where you not only make a difference every single day but also contribute to building the railway for the future to join us by applying for the Advanced Apprenticeship scheme today.”

 
Last year, Network Rail received more than 4,000 applications for the Advanced Apprenticeship scheme. Apprentices join the 20,000-strong orange army of front line engineers and technicians who fix and maintain the rail infrastructure, enabling 1.6 billion rail journeys to be made every year. The majority of those coming through the apprentice scheme also progress their career with Network Rail, with 85% of those who started on the scheme in 2005, when it was first launched, still working for the organisation.

 

Hamzah Kola, 21, from Bolton, joined the Advanced Apprenticeship scheme in September 2015: “I was going to study pharmacology at university but knew there was no guarantee of a job at the end of it so I looked around for other opportunities. I was pointed towards the Network Rail apprenticeship scheme and though I didn’t know much about apprenticeships beforehand, as soon as I did my research I knew that was what I wanted to do.

 
Source:-Network Rail

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