Brecon became one of our Rochester Bridge Trust Arkwright Engineering Scholars in 2016. He’s now beginning a defence weapons degree apprenticeship and we’re looking forward to hearing more about how he progresses along his path into engineering.
My scholarship with the Rochester Bridge Trust has given me some amazing visits and opportunities.
I’ve been given the support to try courses I probably wouldn’t have looked at doing, as well as taking part in a great range of trips to help develop my understanding of the engineering environment. Comparing my experience to that of scholars supported by other organisations, I feel particularly pleased to have been linked with the Trust because of all the opportunities I’ve benefited from.
Now I’ve finished school I’m starting a degree apprenticeship and being a Rochester Bridge Trust Arkwright Engineering Scholar really helped with getting this – the scholarship looked great on my CV and was a useful talking point during my interview.
I applied for the Defence Weapons Degree Apprenticeship Scheme because I have always considered an apprenticeship to be the way for me to enter the engineering world and it is a particularly rare opportunity.
My apprenticeship begins with a year at University College Weston, in Somerset, where I will work towards a foundation degree and the NVQ level 2 Performing Engineering Operations. I will then move on to study at the University of West England, where I will spend two years on the Defence Engineering degree course. This will include a number of work placements to improve my knowledge and complement the technologies I will be studying as part of my course.
At this point I should become qualified to a level that will enable me to register as an Engineering Technician (EngTech). I’ll then have the opportunity to decide if I want to start work or continue to study for a further two years to become an Incorporated Engineer (IEng).
This is a unique opportunity to be involved in the Ministry of Defence weapons programmes and I’m really looking forward to getting started on the next step in my journey towards becoming an engineer.
Read about the start of Brecon’s time as a Rochester Bridge Trust Arkwright Engineering Scholar here.