Thomas

Why did you come to UTCN?

I was first introduced to UTCN through an open day that they were hosting whilst I was in year 9.  I soon recognised that the school offered me the best possible gateway into countless numbers of careers. From a young age, I had a strong interest in engineering so joining UTCN was a great way of me getting introduced to the sector. Very few schools offer the excellent facilities, courses and training that UTCN offers. I joined in year 10 to do my GCSE’s and then remained at UTCN for sixth form, eventually graduating with my A-Levels in year 13.

What did you like about UTCN?

UTCN promotes a professional atmosphere and treats its students like individuals. We were identified by name and not a designated string of numbers like most education establishments.

UTCN, along with the high quality training to do so, offers its students the opportunity to become competent in the use of equipment seen in many specialist industries. Some of this equipment includes: Welders, Plasma cutters,  CNC milling machines, lathes laser cutters and 3D printers.

Why did you apply for your apprenticeship?

National Grid is a internationally recognised and well respected company. Nat-Grid strongly promotes investment into its employees, allowing them to better themselves and swiftly progress their careers towards the “next level”. The offer bigger and better opportunities, including fully funded higher education and next level training if I want to to do this. 

The benefits are also really good e.g. excellent salary, new high-end vehicles, company phones, company laptops.

What do you do in your apprenticeship?

The official role title I am training to become is  “Electrical Transmission - Asset Operations - Power Network, Electrical Power Protection, and Plant Commissioning Engineer”. This is abbreviated to “ET - AO - PNEPPPCE”.

In very simple terms, I’m a Substation Commissioning Engineer. This involves the maintenance and installation of equipment to keep the entirety of the nation powered and the electricity on. It’s a 3 year apprenticeship scheme in which I will be trained to become an “ET - AO - PNEPPPCE”. During this time I will also be completing a Higher National Certificate in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering and many other qualifications relevant to the Electrical Transmission sector. I get aspects of both office and hands-on practical experience all of which is very educating and enjoyable.

Recently I have been training at the National Grid Training Centre in Eakring which was featured by Tom Scott (A famous YouTube Content Creator). This training centre allows apprentices such as myself to work on multi-million pound pieces of equipment. Furthermore, on the 24^th January 2024 I was invited to attend an East of England Energy Group reception hosted at the house of commons on behalf of National Grid apprentices.

What advice would you give current UTCN students?

My advice to any student would be to:
 

• Network with employers and employees when you get the chance, especially with those within the sector you wish to join. Employers are very good at identifying and remembering talent in people. If you go out of your way to speak to them and take the initiative to enhance your own knowledge they will most likely remember you later on. As for employees, it’s very likely they will speak to others about the positive experience they had meeting you, maybe even passing it on to your future employer. Its always good to have a person you can refer to when applying for a role as you will already have something to talk about and they may even put in a good word for you.
• Get LinkedIn on your mobile phone and laptop. It’s great for keeping up to date on companies and is excellent for networking. A strong network of connections can make your life a lot easier in the present and future as you have so many experts just a message away.

• Take every opportunity you have to gain work experience and knowledge even if it’s not relevant to the sector you may want to go into: It gives you a great view of other possible careers, allows you to develop transferable skills and most importantly, employers love it!

• Don’t be scared to contact employers directly. They are human and a simple phone call can go a long way.
• Employers do want you...you just need to prove why they need you.