SIX students from West Cheshire College have been offered an Advanced Apprenticeship in Engineering with ScottishPower.
Students Joshua Edge, Paul Latham, Adam Davies, Ryan Lawler, Adam Mills and James Archer completed the company’s pre-apprenticeship Engineering Foundation Programme, which included the opportunity to gain a Level 2 Diploma in Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
The programme was launched by ScottishPower and the college to help address the future skills shortage in the power sector.
The course involves studying at the college and spending time with ScottishPower engineers at their training centre in Hoylake. Students are also given the chance to complete a First Aid course and gain a Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award.
Paul Latham, 18, from Chester, said: “I am really looking forward to starting the Advanced Apprenticeship in September as a linesman.
“As part of the Engineering Foundation programme, we spent a week each term visiting ScottishPower, shadowing engineering professionals and getting an insight into the different roles they offer.
“If I do well then hopefully they will offer me a full-time job – it’s a great opportunity for me as ScottishPower is one of the leading companies in the power industry.”
Paul Cormack, vocational programme co-ordinator at ScottishPower, said: “Through our partnership with West Cheshire College we are pleased to be able to offer young people the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities and secure long-term employment in the power industry.”
Liz McIntosh, assistant manager of engineering at West Cheshire College, said: “It is a great achievement that so many of our students have been accepted on to the Advanced Apprenticeship. They have worked really hard over the past year, which has really paid off.
“The power sector in the UK offers a range of career opportunities as the industry has an aging workforce, so students who do the course and work hard have a positive future in front of them.”
For more about engineering courses at West Cheshire College, call 01244 656 555 or visit www.west-cheshire.ac.uk.
