Machinist Review
at BMW Group UK
Level 3 Apprenticeship
Manufacturing
Swindon, UK
Review Submitted: April 2024
Overall Rating
4.6 /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!
4/5
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Overview of Role
5/5
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Skills Development
4.4/5
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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
I'm currently being trained up as a machinist and our main day to day work can vary from repairing trim steels, to modifying them or on new jobs creating brand new steels from scratch that would reside on a die. In addition we occasional make one off parts if a die is under performing.
To what extent do you enjoy your programme?
4/5
The main practical side is very involved and is useful for a more visual learner, there is also an academic side that covers the broader aspect of engineering and whilst this involves a lot of classroom based learning it does also provide practical learning activities to keep you interested in the work being taught.
Skills Development
Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?
5/5
Throughout my course i have learnt toolmaking with gives an understanding of how die tooling works, which features are important to the function and how to repair them by hand, When training on the machines I've learnt how to use other CAD based software's such as TEBIS and how to use te program to create machining paths.
Structure and Support
How well organised/structured is your programme?
5/5
Its a lot better structured than previous years at the college mostly thanks to having an excellent support team that is BMW that pushes the collage to the appropriate expectations to ensure all their apprentices get the learning and qualifications that is expected of the apprentices, without this support some courses can be more difficult to get things done.
How much support do you receive from your employer?
4/5
A reasonable amount, they provide all the resources or materials that are needed to ensure we can put in the full amount of effort into the coursework, these can include work laptops to help with working from home or even printing facilities at plant when the college printing service is process your print credits.
How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?
4/5
This has improved since our new qualification trainer from the college has arrived, he checks in more frequently to ensure were all on schedule and provides helpful feedback to ensure our wok is of the best quality. They have done this for 10 years now and only has one or two instances where students didn't qualify.
How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?
4/5
The qualification has helped gain a greater insight into the function, construction and restraints a die tool is capable of, in addition the college machining and CAD qualifications helped me prepare for my current role as a machinist, the only additional training that was required was learning how to integrate both together.
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
As apprentices the first step on the road is a teambuilding activity at Skern lodge to help get to know all the new apprentices and build a good relationship with the apprentice management team, other activities include many charity events such as the mountain challenge that help establish good networking between the various departments.
Recommendations & Advice
Would you recommend BMW Group UK to a friend?
Yes
Why?
The company is very friendly and everyone working within the company are happy to help wherever they can to ensure you succeed the apprenticeship. The environment is very relaxed and so long as you get the work done within the expected time no one is looking over your shoulder or applying any pressure.
What tips or advice would you give to others applying to BMW Group UK?
Research what toolmaking and industry dies are, whilst at first glance it might not pear interesting or have much going on when you dig deep there is a lot of hard work that goes into maintaining, repairing or producing one of these dies, in addition if you have a good understanding of the history this will help during the interview process.
Public Relations and Events Assistant
at BMW Group UK
- Placement (10 Months+)
- Farnborough, Hampshire
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4.8
