<p>The winners of the 2022 Annual Apprenticeship Conference (AAC) Awards have been revealed at a glitzy ceremony in Birmingham, with Weston College being named as the Engineering and Manufacturing Apprenticeship Provider of the Year.</p><p>The AAC Apprenticeship Awards are supported by FE Week and AELP (Association of Employment and Learning Providers) and it celebrates apprenticeships across the UK – this year it received a staggering 370 nominations for the awards.</p><p>Weston College won the award due to its strong engineering apprenticeship provision, which supports employers of all sizes across the south west.</p><p>Joanne Philpott, Vice Principal – Curriculum Delivery and Technical Innovation, was at the awards, and said: “We are so proud of our engineering provision at Weston College, which continues to go from strength to strength.</p><p>“This award demonstrates our ethos of creating brighter futures, whether that be for the 500 plus learners we support through apprenticeships in engineering, or the 50 employers we work closely with to supply them with a talent stream.”</p><p>Weston College offers ten different apprenticeship standards in engineering, which allows apprentices to train in an array of engineering disciplines, from Aerospace to Composites.</p><p>Dr Paul Phillips CBE, Principal and Chief Executive of the Weston College Group, added: “Our engineering provision is constantly defying the odds, from bucking national trends, to delivering fantastic results.</p><p>“Something which is particularly important for us at Weston College, is giving everyone that is interested a route into the industry, whether that be NEETs through traineeships, or challenging the norm by welcoming a higher proportion of females into the industry.</p><p>“A huge well done and thank you to our engineering team, who continue to impress not just regionally, but nationally too, with this very well-deserved award.”</p><p>Find out more about Weston College’s apprenticeship provision, <a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/apprenticeships?utm_source=ma…;

<p>From September, we will welcome our first cohort of engineering T Level learners, into our Engineering Career Excellence Hub.</p><p>T Levels offer learners an alternative to A Levels and apprenticeships, with a real focus on work experience, as learners must complete a 45-day industry placement with a local employer.</p><p>The engineering T Level, offers both a practical and academic focus, providing learners with skills, knowledge and understanding of subjects such as design, project, maths, materials and manufacturing principles.</p><p>Employers across the country are recognising how important T Levels are going to be, especially in their plans for developing their future work force.</p><p>Leading engineering company, Belcan, has pledged their support to Weston College and T Levels, by committing to offering an industry placement to T Level learners.</p><p>Steve Beasley, Head of Repair Engineering at Belcan, said: “Our philosophy is to build an inclusive work environment to attract and retain talented people, encourage innovation, and inspire top performance from employees to achieve superior business results by putting people first.</p><p>“We’re excited to be supporting Weston College through their new engineering T Level, and provide opportunities to young people wanting to enter the exciting engineering industry.”</p><p>Dr Paul Phillips CBE, Principal and Chief Executive of Weston College Group, said: “We’re delighted to be working with Belcan, they are a forward-thinking company that are very keen on providing opportunities that are vital in developing the engineers of tomorrow.</p><p>“The new engineering T Level is going to be highly desirable for school leavers as the programme is built to be beneficial for both our learners and employer network, meaning we are all working together to get learners job-ready.”</p><p>You can find out more about the Engineering T Level, <a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/engin…;

<p>Hi, my name is Joel Keen and I am a 3rd year engineering apprentice, focussing in Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machining.</p><p>Last year I entered the WorldSkills UK CNC Milling competition, which involves being given a drawing and a block of metal. The drawing is turned into a machine program which controls the machine to make an actual part out of metal. The part is then measured and judged by the experts to determine the winner.</p><p>It has been a great journey so far. I first heard about the competition from some of my apprentice friends, who thought that this would be the kind of thing I would enjoy – and they were definitely right!</p><p>I entered in March 2019, and was then sent drawings for the passive heat which ensures you are at the right level before the final. I made my initial entry using the machines at Weston College and sent it away for judging. After a few months I received the message to say that I made the top eight in the country. I was invited to Coleg Cambria for finalist training, which was a really beneficial experience and prepared me for the WorldSkills Live Show at the NEC in Birmingham.</p><p>Being able to compete and hone my skills has been a really valuable experience for me. Not only have I developed my CNC skills, I have advanced my team working skills, ability to work under pressure, and also time management. In order to be at a level to compete in the finals this was crucial, and throughout last year I completed extra practice on the machines at Weston College, in order to give me the best chance of winning my heat.</p><p>I was absolutely thrilled to win Gold in the National Final, and I am now part of the UK Squad, which might see me compete in EuroSkills Graz 2020 and WorldSkills Shanghai 2021!</p><p>WorldSkills really is an incredible experience, the training you receive is outstanding, and meeting likeminded people is also great fun.</p><p>I would definitely recommend WorldSkills to other learners because if you work hard you have a chance to compete on the national stage. The training and support from the College will allow you to reach your potential and be at a level to compete.</p>