Apprentice Communications Engineer Review

Item: Apprentice Communications Engineer at Babcock International Group
Rating: 3.1
Author: Anonymous

at Babcock International Group

Level 3 Apprenticeship

Engineering

Preston

Review Submitted: March 2025

Overall Rating

3.1 /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!

4/5 - Overview of Role

3/5 - Skills Development

2.2/5 - Structure and Support

Overview of Role

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

4/5

Maintenance, fault-finding and repair of RF transmitting equipment including scheduled maintenance and component level repair.

To what extent do you enjoy your programme?

4/5

I find the day-to-day work being very interesting and enjoyable. While it is largely the same tasks that must be repeated, the extra jobs that come up are always very interesting. I find the pacing of the BTECs to be good but the teach is sometimes sub-standard.

Skills Development

Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?

3/5

Skills such as following maintenance schedules and making records. Fault-finding techniques and how to apply these to real-world faults. Improved soldering skills. Improved restoration skills

Structure and Support

How well organised/structured is your programme?

4/5

The only structure in the programme is that we attend training for BTECs approximately every six weeks. Our on-the-job learning is largely self-led and we just ask the senior engineers questions to further our learning as necessary

How much support do you receive from your employer?

2/5

Staff on site and in-house teaching team are very supportive and allow ample time for me to complete my assignments however support from Babcock itself is very lacking and is tailored to those on bigger sites.

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

2/5

Support from the training provider is lacking. Contact is infrequent and generally unhelpful. The limited amount of training is often delivered too far ahead or behind of the BTEC subject that it would apply to.

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

2/5

The radio network technician standard is mostly applicable to the job role however it often focuses on technology that is too modern for the equipment on site. The end point assessment has nothing to do with the job role.