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    Apprenticeships

    National Apprenticeship Week: Apprentice Wednesday!

    7 February 2024

    National Apprenticeship week looks at how various Apprenticeships can impact young people, enabling them to develop long-life skills while still learning.

    In 2022, Emily Collins started a full time BSc Honours degree in Rural Enterprise and Land Management (REALM) at Harper Adams University. While she loved the course, and the university, she felt that full-time university life wasn’t for her and considered changing her learning pathway to the Apprenticeship route.

    After speaking with different companies, Emily was offered a job as a Year 3 Apprentice at Dalcour Maclaren. Due to her completing a year on the Full-Time course at Harper, she had covered the same modules that Apprentices would cover in years 1 and 2 of their course. At present, Emily is starting to prepare for her End Point Assessment; which includes collating information for a diary which will contribute towards her Assessment of Professional Competence (APC). Upon completion of her APC, she can become a Chartered member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

    With the Apprenticeship, Emily still attends Harper Adams University for block weeks of study. In doing this, she finds it useful speaking to other REALM Apprentices – whose jobs focus on different aspects within the industry. The Chartered Surveying profession is very varied; at Dalcour Maclaren, Emily focuses mainly on Utilities and Infrastructure projects, whereas other Apprentices on the course may deal with other concepts such as rural valuations, estate management or private land agency. Having this network of contacts within varying organisations enables them to exchange information and experiences to help everyone gain a broad understanding of the profession.

    Emily stated that the one of the main differences between the Full-Time course and an Apprenticeship is that you need to mature quickly as you are not only in a working environment, but socially you are representing a company. Delegation is also vital as, while dealing with real-life clients, you need to be able to set time aside for assignments and university deadlines as well. As an Apprentice, determination is key; being pro-active and seeking the necessary guidance is essential to keep motivated and help to manage workloads. Dalcour Maclaren allows time each week for university work, which Emily utilises to write assignments and has found a pattern of working that suits her.

    If she was to provide guidance to someone deciding between an Apprenticeship or a Full-time course, she would tell them to consider what sort of learner they are. “Personally, I prefer having a routine so having a full-time job is great as I can learn on the job while gaining experience to go towards my APC. I also found I didn’t make the most of ‘uni life’ as I had a larger social network at home, so chose to commute back at weekends. However, if you’re reasoning behind going to university is for the socialising and to make friends, then a full-time course would probably be better suited.”

     

     

    National Apprenticeship Week: Apprentice Wednesday!

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