Electronics Workshop Technician Review
at University of Oxford
Degree Apprenticeship
Engineering
Oxford
Review Submitted: February 2023
Overall Rating
1.2 /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!
2.5/5
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Overview of Role
1/5
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Skills Development
1/5
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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:
4/5
My role typically involves supporting teaching labs and research groups to implement their electrical and electronic needs. For teaching this usually involves setting up labs, repairing and testing demos and assisting students with 4th year projects. For research this usually involves implementing electronics to test and monitor a specific experiment related to the groups area of interest.
To what extent do you enjoy your programme?
1/5
I think given the right situation I would enjoy my degree. However I'm currently travelling from Oxford to bognor upto twice a week requiring around 7-8 hours of travel per day, which can be very tiring. I'm also responsible for the cost of this travel and any additional costs associated with my degree, which adds financial pressure to the situation. Unfortunately this is not an environment that I feel breeds success.
Skills Development
Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?
1/5
I've learnt a bit over these first few months of my degree, although this is largely from self directed study. I would not say however that I have learnt any new skills, partly I suppose because the first year of the degree covers what I've already done at college.
Structure and Support
How well organised/structured is your programme?
1/5
If I could give this 0 stars I would. My degree apprenticeship has been a pickle from the start. A lack of clear communication between my provider and my employer has left more and more information being brought to light about what is required. It is only within the last couple of weeks that I've been given any time at work to complete my uni work (with the exception of lectures at chichester which my employer believed was the bare minimum required to meet the of the job training requirement).
How much support do you receive from your employer?
1/5
The bare minimum. I can see a massive disparity between apprenticeships for new starters and apprenticeships used for training existing members of staff. I'm not supported financially in any way, I'm forced to make up additional time to cover my second day per week at uni (even though this is required to complete the apprenticeship) without time in lieu or additional pay. I have also reported to my employer about ongoing issues regarding the quality of teaching from my provider, however very little actually seems to be done about the fact.
How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?
1/5
Again little to none. Some of the lectures and teaching material have been so poor that I have been teaching myself using my own books and materials so that I'm able to complete the course work. This is made worse by various unfortunate events such as the main teaching building suffering an electrical fire and as a result all teaching and timetables becoming scattered and unorganised.
How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?
1/5
From the few months I've been doing it, I would say it has not.
Are there extra-curricular activities to get involved in at your work? (For example, any social activities, sports teams, or even professional networking events.)
1/5
No.
Recommendations & Advice
Would you recommend University of Oxford to a friend?
No
Why?
The answer is it depends. If it were relating to an apprenticeship for a new starter, then I would recommend them. However based on my own situation as an existing employee training via the apprenticeship levy the difference is day and night. No support in terms of time or money, a clear objective to only provide the minimum requirements, distinct lack of care for the result of the apprenticeship.
What tips or advice would you give to others applying to University of Oxford?
Come as a new starter. Just do not expect to have the same experience if you want to do further training afterwards. The central university seems to be really pushing apprenticeships, however no funding or directives are being given to individual departments who ultimately bare the cost. Hopefully in the next 10 years things will improve.
