Precision Machinist Review
at AWE
Level 3 Apprenticeship
Engineering
Aldermaston
Review Submitted: March 2022
Overall Rating
2.9 /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!
3/5
-
Overview of Role
5/5
-
Skills Development
2.2/5
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Structure and Support
Overview of Role
Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis:
5/5
My role as a machinist it to make a variety of components on a CNC machine.
To what extent do you enjoy your programme?
1/5
I enjoy the practical side of my apprenticeship a tremendous amount and am so glad i decided to stick with it. However, the theoretical side of the apprenticeship isnt very good at best. All the theory work gets outsourced for marking which takes far too long and is incredibly frustrating.
Skills Development
Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?
5/5
I have learned a massive amount considering that before joining i had zero hands on practical roles as i was previously doing a IT related role. The PRACTICAL training has been second to none and i am very glad i decided to pursue this course.
Structure and Support
How well organised/structured is your programme?
1/5
In the workshop, fantastic! The theoretical side of the course isn't structured particularly well. There's far too much work for the one machining skills accessor to do which has forced the marking to be sourced externally. This has in turn created a massive backlog of apprentices who cant out turn into the business. I understand Covid has played a role but that was 2 years ago allowing allowing to restructure/ organise.
How much support do you receive from your employer?
2/5
Again practically there is an abundance of experience from line mangers as well as fellow machinist who are more than happy to help you develop your skills. Regarding theory work a lot has been left to desire. Fore example. You used to be able to email manager with work and he would get back to you within a couple of days. Now, you have to wait 7-8 weeks for an external "marker" to look at your work. The people the company have appointed to mark work both have lacking knowledge in the course which is making the marking process frustrating as how can they mark your work on an industry they are well kept up with themselves?
How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?
1/5
BCOT was average at best. The teacher in charge routinely didn't have the answers to the questions which made the learning experience a lot more difficult and tiresome then it should have been. I also feel that the comments which were put back to BCOT where never adhered too as the couple of years we spent there nothing really ever seemed to change.
How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?
2/5
Overall i felt very little was taught to me through BCOT. Partially to be fair we only went for one day a week and because the training in the academy was that good it felt we were ahead of the curve when it came to college. So in all not really.
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
The site is situated right next to the Aldermaston recreational centre. Here you can join a wide variety of clubs ranging from football, cricket, rugby, table tennis etc. There is also a well equipped gym too.
Recommendations & Advice
Would you recommend AWE to a friend?
Yes
Why?
Even though my Review on the theoretical coursework side of the course was scathing and needs to be sorted out ASAP the practical side really is second to none. You really get the feeling the company is built on past apprentices which makes you feel appreciated which isn't always the case in apprenticeships. For this reason i have recommended this course to a lot of people and will continue to do so!!!!
What tips or advice would you give to others applying to AWE?
From my experience everyone has been very good with apprentices and wants to help them to fulfil their potential. As long as you have a good work ethic and you want to work and improve yourself people wont mind the gaps in your knowledge as it is their job to whelp fill those gaps which they have done very well. Again prior to this i came from a very different role with no experience but over the course of 3-4 years i feel very confident in my machining ability.
