Apprentice Laboratory Technician Review

Item: Apprentice Laboratory Technician at Nottingham Trent University
Rating: 2.1
Author: Anonymous

at Nottingham Trent University

Level 3 Apprenticeship

Science

Nottingham

Review Submitted: March 2021

Overall Rating

2.1 /5

The Overall Rating is the average of all the ratings given in each category. We take those individual ratings and combine them into one final score!

1.5/5 - Overview of Role

3/5 - Skills Development

2/5 - Structure and Support

Overview of Role

Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis:

2/5

Assisting with the setting up and running of undergraduate and postgraduate classes, across the School of Science and Technology.

To what extent do you enjoy your programme?

1/5

I enjoyed aspects of the course, and there was the potential to be more enjoyable if it had been properly planned. My course consisted of moving to all of the areas of science and working in 8 week rotations with no say on where i went or how long for. This meant that i worked in areas where i had little interest, or where there was a lack of work. Caused a lot of stress.

Skills Development

Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?

3/5

I did learn plenty of skills, with a focus in biological skills, but this was often hampered by there not being a proper structured training plan in place. This meant certain skills were not addressed that were needed for the course, and often i had to seek out the training myself in order to gain the skills. This was not the fault of the technicians in the labs, but was the fault of the manager.

Structure and Support

How well organised/structured is your programme?

1/5

It was not planned or structured at all. The areas where we worked were not always applicable to the college course, and we were often dumped in departments with very little notice to the technicians. They therefore did not know what to train us in, and caused a lot of stress and therefore hostility towards the apprenticeship as a whole.

How much support do you receive from your employer?

2/5

The support from my direct line manager was practically non existent, the only support i got was from the technicians, but as they were not directly involved in the apprenticeship programme they often couldn't do much to help.

How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?

1/5

None at all, as mentioned above.

How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?

1/5

My training was through Central college which was an extremely dated building with a shocking lack of lab equipment to say it was the site of science training. For probably the first 18 months of the course, i was repeating content that i had covered during GCSE's/ALevels. The turnover rate of the staff was so high too that there was massive inconsistencies with the level of training.

Are there extra-curricular activities to get involved in at your work? (For example, any social activities, sports teams, or even professional networking events.)

5/5

There is a gym with classes, science conferences, technician social gatherings etc.

Recommendations & Advice

Would you recommend Nottingham Trent University to a friend?

Why?

For all the reasons mentioned above.
The apprenticeship programme has the potential to be something amazing, but not without drastic changes that have not yet happened.