Engineering apprentice Jack Cartlidge is praising his course’s twin-track approach for enabling him to get hands-on experience while he studies.
Jack, 19, signed up on a Test Engineer Degree Apprenticeship when he joined tech giant Siemens.
While working at the firm’s Congleton plant which manufactures variable speed drives he is on day release to attend the Staffordshire University campus.
Now in the second year of his apprenticeship, the Stoke-on-Trent-born teenager enjoys the combination of practical experience and academic study.
“I chose the degree apprenticeship route for my career because I saw it as an opportunity to gain a constant stream of experience and work-based knowledge as well as continuing and expanding my education through University,” he said.
“As well as working full-time hours at Siemens I have to manage my time effectively through the completion of my University modules, with 20 per cent of my working week spent in attending physical and virtual lectures on Mondays.”
For Jack, the best part of being an apprentice is the variety which sees him expanding his skills and learning something new on a daily basis.
“I am constantly being prepared for the working world by already having the opportunity to be apart of it,” he added.
“It’s brilliant that I can develop skills in the world of work while also learning in an academic setting.”
