Monday 3 Feb 2014
Network Rail seeks new talent for award-winning apprentice scheme
- Region & Route:
- | Eastern: Anglia
- | Eastern
Places are now available for young people across Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire for Network Rail’s successful three-year apprenticeship scheme. The company is seeking 15 new recruits at its maintenance depots in Norwich, Ipswich, Romford, Ely and Wanstead to help deliver the billions of pounds being invested in the coming years to provide a bigger, better, more efficient and more reliable railway.
The first year of the award-winning three-year scheme is spent at Europe’s largest engineering training facility at HMS Sultan in Hampshire. There apprentices specialise in track, signalling, telecoms or electrification and plant. During their second and third years they experience work on the rail network’s front line, gaining vital experience as they train to become maintenance technicians. Throughout this time they regularly return to HMS Sultan for further courses and training to add to the experience gained on the rail network.
Richard Schofield, Anglia route managing director said: “We need more highly skilled people to help us meet the challenges of a busier network and focus on improving the reliability of the railway and increasing capacity as passenger numbers continue to grow.
“The apprenticeship is just the start of our learning programme. Many of our apprentices go on to be team leaders and managers and take up the opportunity to further their education through Network Rail.
“The scheme offers young people the chance to gain recognised qualifications and expert training, which will not only set them up for a challenging career but also teach them all they need to know to become invaluable members of the Network Rail team. They can be proud to be part of a company which keeps Britain moving and helps four million people and millions of tonnes of freight travel every day. "
Since 2005, Network Rail has trained 1050 apprentices across Britain through the three-year scheme with a further 600 currently still in training.
Anyone who is 17 years of age by 31 August 2014 can apply via www.facebook.com/ontrack . Applicants will need to provide their home address postcode to see what vacancies are available in their areas as placements in maintenance depots will be allocated on application. Advice and information is provided on the Facebook page including videos and case studies of current and former apprentices, talking about their own experiences on the scheme.
Notes to editors
Qualifications required:
To apply for an apprenticeship, you need to be 17 by 31st August 2014. This is to ensure we comply with health and safety requirements and regulations around shift patterns and working at night for under-18s. There is no upper age limit for the programme. We require a minimum of four GCSEs A-C / four Scottish Standard 1-3, or equivalent. These have to include English, maths and science or engineering. We’ll accept a relevant BTEC / NVQ level 2 and above to replace science or engineering.
About the Network Rail advanced apprenticeship scheme:
It is a three-year programme that equips you with the skills and experience to become a maintenance engineering technician. www.facebook.com/ontrack
There are five engineering programmes: track, signals, electrification and plant, signal design and telecoms. Each one gives you the chance to work in a critical area of the business, where your development will continue beyond the three years of the scheme.
Paid learning:
In the first year, apprentices will be paid £8,400 + £1,150 when they successfully finish the year; the salary will rise to £11,750 in the second; and £14,000 in the third.
In the first year, Network Rail will also feed, pay for accommodation and provide the clothing and personal protective equipment that they need. There are plenty of holidays: 28 days plus bank holidays. Network Rail will pay for apprentices to travel home for long weekends and Christmas, Easter and summer holidays.
Qualifications:
After three years, apprentices will have the qualifications (NVQ, BTec and ILM (Institute of Leadership and Management)) and skills to develop a long-term career with Network Rail. Many apprentices complete their first year and soon start to think about their career options – and many set their sights on becoming technical officers, team leaders or managers. There are even further opportunities to study a foundation degree for those who demonstrate the commitment and ability.
Contact information
Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41
Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries
Journalists
Network Rail press office - South East route
020 3357 7969
southeastroutecomms@networkrail.co.uk
About Network Rail
We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.
Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.
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