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Maintenance Technician Review

at BMW Group UK

Level 3 Apprenticeship

Engineering, Manufacturing

Swindon, Wiltshire

Review Submitted: April 2024

Overall Rating

3.9 /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!

3.5/5 - Overview of Role
4/5 - Skills Development
3.6/5 - 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
On Mondays I come to Swindon Plant to do paperwork that is required of my training course or I head down to the shop floor to do some work with the maintenance technicians that are doing what I will be doing by the end of the apprenticeship. For Oxford Plant I go and do my training qualification that is a Lvl2 NVQ where it is mainly workshop activities such as welding, turning, fluid power, business studies, PLCs, milling, electrical and electronics.
To what extent do you enjoy your programme?
3/5
I enjoy my program a a lot and its exciting to see how it will develop in the next few years. I am constantly learning new things like processes, methods of doing things through my work and being around like minded people. there have been issues with training provider that have been fixed but overall it has been a good start to the 4 years.

Skills Development

Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?
4/5
I've learnt loads of new skills that are mainly practical and have used these to produce, pneumatic circuits, components on a lathe that make an actuator and other small pieces that are smaller version of the real systems that are in both of the plants. The work done has been useful to develop soft skills as well.

Structure and Support

How well organised/structured is your programme?
3/5
I haven't been exposed a lot to the main program of my apprenticeship from my employer as it has been mainly training provider at a different plant to my place of work. To be honest it has been a bit poor in some areas and other it has been good.
How much support do you receive from your employer?
5/5
From my employer I feel that I receive a lot of support and feel supported even when I am not at my place of work, my manager is always contactable by phone and has been supporting myself and other apprentices constantly if we have had any issues that we felt that we couldn't fix ourselves.
How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?
2/5
The support that is given through my training provider varies as sometimes it doesn't feel like we get enough support but others I felt supported. There have been issues with teaching as some of the tutors employed after good ones have left have not been good or supportive in the rotations that we have done.
How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?
4/5
We haven't had enough training in the main role that we are working towards as the first year of our apprenticeship has been going to the training provider for 4/5 days of the week. But on the Monday it relates to the small jobs I do on a Monday.
Are there extra-curricular activities to get involved in at your work? (For example, any social activities, sports teams, or even professional networking events.)
4/5
There are a few options that apprentices are able to do and also have a chance to run such as the Charity Champions team that I am a part of, the newsletter team which sends out monthly newsletters to all of the associates within the plants of BMW Group. there is also a conservation team that I am a part of where we are refurbishing a bench for the pond area within Swindon Plant.

Recommendations & Advice

Would you recommend BMW Group UK to a friend?
Yes
Why?
It is a great opportunity to earn valuable skills and if done well, secure a well-paying and rewarding job by the end of the apprenticeship. there are lots of opportunities for soft skills and practical skills to be developed on which can help outside of work too with any hands on projects.
What tips or advice would you give to others applying to BMW Group UK?
This is a rewarding role and to be able to succeed you'll need tp go in with an open mind and be ready to work hard, the work is challenging but fun and rewarding. Be sociable towards others as this will improve your network within the plants as there will be chances to see other apprentices and share experiences.
In This Review
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