This is a broad industry with many occupations available to apprentices. In the area of heating and ventilating, you could work as a fitter, installing and repairing heating and ventilating systems; you could be a welder, using specialist skills to join pipework systems; or you could install the ductwork that either provides clean air to, or extracts air from, parts of buildings.

If you want to pursue the refrigeration and air conditioning side of the Apprenticeship, you would help install, service and repair temperature and air quality control systems. This work might include surveying potential installation sites; producing estimates; planning the layout of pipework, ducts and control panels; and fitting components. Apprentices who prefer practical work could train as service and maintenance engineers, and fix any problems.

The HVACR industry takes its responsibility to the environment seriously so you'll learn to work with this in mind, and health and safety is also of key importance.

Job Roles

·         Heating and ventilating fitter

·         Service and maintenance engineer

·         Ductwork installer

·         Refrigeration and air conditioning technician

The following providers offer this specialism:

Heating and Ventilation

Grimsby Institute

Refrigeration and Air Conditioning

Chamber Training

Grimsby Institute

From installing sanitation systems and servicing boilers to laying underground drainage pipes, plumbers work for the construction industry as well as for commercial and domestic clients. In recent years, the industry has also been involved with developing environmentally-sound technologies like solar water heating and rain water harvesting.

As a Plumbing apprentice, you’ll learn about the installation and maintenance of plumbing systems and components. You’ll also take a certificate in basic plumbing skills, covering safety, cold water and hot water systems, sanitation, and central heating.

 

On the Advanced Apprenticeship, your skill base will broaden to include working with gas, and you’ll be able to enter the profession at a higher level.

 

As a plumber, you could find yourself working in many different places – from construction sites to residential homes. Job prospects are good, with plenty of scope for self-employment.

 

Job Roles

·         Plumber

The following providers offer this specialism:

Grimsby Institute

Hull College

 

Polymer processing deals with the manufacture and production of polymer and synthetic substances, such as plastic, nylon and PVC. Plastic is incredibly versatile and can be made from different ingredients, moulded into any shape, and put to a huge range of uses across industry and the rest of society, from carrier bags to electrical cables. It’s no surprise that the polymer industry is one of the most important areas of manufacturing in the UK. One factory is likely to produce many different kinds of plastic items.

 

An apprentice would normally work in either a factory or a workshop and learn how to mass-produce plastic or composite items. They would weigh and mix raw materials, learn about the production process, test products, maintain machinery and make sure items are made on time and without wasting materials.

 

Such is the diverse nature of the products manufactured, apprentices may find that they will be required to manufacture some products or components by hand-based methods.

 

Production requires practical skills that will require the apprentice to work quickly on complicated tasks, to use numeracy skills to mix materials and to have an eye for detail.

 

Job Roles

Intermediate Level Apprenticeship

·         Polymer/Composite Operator

Advanced Level Apprenticeship

·         Production Operator/Technician

 

The following providers offer this specialism:

Hull College

This Apprenticeship is for anyone interested in driving large goods vehicles (LGVs) – lorries weighing over 7.5 tonnes. LGV drivers transport and deliver goods between suppliers and customers, travelling across the roads and motorways of the UK and beyond. LGV driving is a skilled job, and doing it safely takes work and training.

As an Intermediate Level Apprentice, you’ll be involved in transporting goods with pick-ups and multi-drop deliveries. Other duties may include planning schedules and routes, supervising the loading and unloading of cargo, completing paperwork and log books – and, of course, lots of driving.

If you complete an Advanced Level Apprenticeship, you’ll be in a position to gain wider experience within the logistics sector through team leading, management, or by moving into traffic operations. There are also training opportunities for transporting goods like chemicals or hazardous materials that require specialist skills.

LGV drivers need to know the rules of the road and have good time-keeping and planning skills. They can work antisocial hours, often alone, and spend time away from home. But you’ll see the world from behind the wheel. While this Apprenticeship is open to people aged 16, most employers prefer you to be 18 or older.

The following providers offer this specialism:

Hull College

Engineers design and build the things that make our world go round. Everything, from aeroplanes to buildings, comes back to engineering. This hugely diverse field can be divided into seven sub-categories: aerospace, automotive, metals, electrical equipment, electronics, marine maintenance, and mechanical engineering.

This Apprenticeship covers a range of job roles in these sub-sectors. On this Apprenticeship, the sort of work you’ll be doing will depend on your employer. Generally, engineering apprentices will learn to take on an operator role in a certain area of engineering. This could involve anything from assembling car engines to installing telecommunications systems. Most duties will involve the maintenance of equipment and machinery.

Through the Advanced Level Apprenticeship you can become either a skilled craftsperson (skilled in practical trades, like fitting or machining) or a technician (involved in technical matters and problem-solving).

Both Apprenticeships begin by learning about work safety, how to communicate technical information, and identifying engineering equipment. Working in this field requires a good head for figures and IT literacy. You’ll need good written and verbal communication skills; and you’ll have to be a team player.

The following providers offer this specialism:

East Riding College

Grimsby Institute

HETA

Hull College

This Apprenticeship covers a wide range of job roles within food manufacture, from quality checkers and bakers to logistics officers and butchers. Getting food on the shelves depends on a range of different people doing various jobs within food manufacturing. For example, in order for a loaf of bread to reach your trolley, it has to go through a sequence of sourcing, processing, baking, packaging and distribution.

As an apprentice, you could specialise in the main operations involved in manufacturing and processing a wide range of food products. This may include some exciting production areas, such as dairy processing; bakery production; butchery; fishmongery; or chocolate and sweets. Your work-based learning programme will involve both on-the-job and off-the-job training.

Through this combination you will develop both technical and practical skills. This Apprenticeship offers many options, whether you’re someone who likes to be physically on the go, or are interested in how food is made and machinery works. You’ll get to work as part of a busy team, which will involve solving problems, meeting specific targets and ensuring food safety requirements are met. The prospects are good and the job is an important one – the demand for food will always be with us.

The following providers offer this specialism:

Bishop Burton College

East Riding College

Grimsby Institute

Hull College

This Apprenticeship covers a range of job roles within the metal industry. Metal starts as a mineral inside rock, which has to be extracted, purified and mixed in order to become a certain type of metal like aluminium or steel. Depending on its use – whether for a spaceship, car or soup tin – the metal is then treated, coated and shaped to fit its purpose.

Metal processing deals with all of these things, as well as with recycling and the development of new materials. As an Intermediate Level Apprentice you’ll gain a broad understanding of the metals industry by working both in the office and on the shop floor. You might schedule materials, monitor production processes, work on the floor as a member of a production team, test the quality of products, and learn health and safety practices.

On the Advanced Level Apprenticeship, you’ll take a leading part in developing and making a broad range of hi-tech products such as advanced engine components, surgical implants, oil rigs and structural steelwork, including the chance to develop technical and team leader skills. The UK metals sector supplies raw materials for every engineering and manufacturing process, as well as other key industries like automotive, aerospace, defence, household goods and packaging. Metal will always be in demand, which makes for excellent job prospects.

The following providers offer this specialism:

Hull College

This Apprenticeship covers a range of occupations in the chemical, pharmaceutical, petro-chemical manufacturing and refining industries. These industries produce many of life’s necessities – the chemicals industry makes products like pharmaceuticals, soaps and toiletries while the petroleum refining industry is responsible for turning crude oil into fuels and lubricants.

Apprentices could find themselves working in a variety of roles that aid production. As a process operator or technician, you would start up, control, monitor and shut down the systems and machinery involved in production. As a maintenance technician, you would keep the equipment in good working order; and as a laboratory assistant or technician, you would provide analytical support for production by testing samples and ensuring quality assurance. If you chose to work in refinery operations, you would monitor and assist in the production of petroleum products.

The Advanced Level Apprenticeship offers further pathways in four major areas of industry: oil and gas, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and petroleum. Depending on the pathway you choose, you could be working on an oil-rig or in a laboratory. The industry depends on scientific research, and IT skills are also important.

The following providers offer this specialism:

Hull College

This Apprenticeship is about driving passenger carrying vehicles (PCVs). Across the country, from the school run to the last bus home, PCVs deliver people from place to place – and it’s the drivers who make sure they get there safely. It takes a lot of skill to drive an 18-tonne bus around narrow city centre streets, and some coach drivers may have to go even further – driving long distances on motorways, or driving abroad.

As a PCV driver, you’ll be expected to help passengers safely reach their destinations on time, pay attention to other road users, assist passengers with special needs, keep your vehicle in good working order…and know how to keep your cool if surrounded by difficult passengers, singing school children, or fare dodgers. You won’t necessarily need a licence to gain entry to this Apprenticeship, but you’ll work towards a PCV provisional licence during your training. Bear in mind that this type of licence requires you to meet certain medical requirements.

As an apprentice you'll also have to achieve a PCV driver certificate of professional competence (CPC) before you can drive for your company.

The following providers offer this specialism:

Hull College

The UK has the world’s oldest railway network, and maintaining it is a demanding job that requires an army of skilled engineers to look after the many signals, tracks, lights and trains that make up this complex system.

This Apprenticeship covers many areas of the rail industry: passenger rail services; rail freight services; controlling train movements; and railway infrastructure. This includes work in national rail services, the London Underground, European rail services and light rail services (including trams).

As an apprentice, you could be doing many things, from fixing signals to helping to maintain the tracks. Trains, of course, need engineers to keep them running, but they also need permanent way (track) engineers to make sure the tracks are in good condition. Train drivers only know where to go, how fast to travel, and when to approach a station, because of a network of signals. If these go wrong, it could mean delays, or even disasters. Signalling engineers and technicians keep everything in working order.

With other jobs involving laying the track, and maintaining communication links between stations and trains; there are many opportunities for the technically minded on this Apprenticeship.

The following providers offer this specialism:

Hull College

This Apprenticeship deals with the design, production and installation of all sorts of signs, from those displayed on company entrances to the advertising hoardings you see around football pitches.

The signmaking process can involve many diverse skills – from graphic design through to electrical engineering – and incorporates materials like vinyl, perspex, plastic, metal and glass. Various methods are used to produce lettering for signs, depending on the project – for example, computer-controlled routers for cutting out moulded glass fibre lettering. Screen-printing may also be used to produce posters, while traditional signwriting could involve designing by hand and painting with special brushes and enamel paint.

As an apprentice, you could be employed as a signmaker, sign installer, quality technician, or manufacturing technician. You could learn a range of skills including how to design signs; prepare different types of surfaces; cut out and build plastics into letters and logos; use digital technologies; and install signs at sites. The nature of the work will vary with the employer, but it could involve machining, joining, engraving, etching, hand decorating, spray-painting and screen-printing.

The following providers offer this specialism:

Hull Training (please visit www.logonmoveon.co.uk for more information)

This Apprenticeship concerns planning, scheduling and routing goods that are transported overland. Most of the jobs are in haulage and courier companies – outfits which have large amounts of material to move across the country and beyond. It’s an area that requires serious organisational skills.

As an apprentice, you’ll gain a broad overview of how systems work by carrying out routine tasks within a traffic office, such as managing timetables, planning routes, scheduling loads, and assigning drivers to vehicles. You'll also be introduced to the commercial aspects of the business by learning about how to quote for services. At all times, a high standard of customer service must be maintained. For this sort of work, you’ll need to be good with people and an able communicator. Punctuality, attention to detail and reliability are essential traits, as well as the ability to react quickly to plan alternative solutions if things go wrong.

The following providers offer this specialism:

Hull College

This Apprenticeship is about patching up damaged vehicles. From a scratched door to a dented bumper, accidents can affect a car’s bodywork, mechanical parts and paint job.

As an apprentice, you’ll have the choice to focus on either mechanical, electrical and trim body fitting; body repair; or body finishing. Mechanical, electrical and trim technicians repair moving parts and electronics. They assess the damage and then get at the broken parts inside by removing the bodywork (trim), fix the internal parts, and then replace the bodywork. Body repair technicians fix the outside body of the car – they remove, repair and replace damaged panels, ensuring that the car is still sturdy and safe. They may fix the vehicle’s alignment and quality-check all body repairs. Body refinishing technicians add the final surface touch by applying primers and paint so everything looks as good as new.

This may involve the use of hand and power sanding tools, chemical cleaning agents, spray booths and drying equipment. Apprentices will need a good eye to assess damage. Each bump and scrape will present a new challenge, but you’ll feel satisfied after transforming the damaged vehicle into something that works again and looks as good as new.

The following providers offer this specialism:

Hull College

This Apprenticeship deals with fast-fit operations in the motor vehicle industry. Motor vehicle fitters, or fast-fit technicians, repair and replace tyres, batteries, exhausts and other vehicle parts, while the customer waits. They normally work in fast-fit centres alongside motor vehicle technicians, but some fitters specialise in tractors or other heavy vehicles. Whatever the specialisation, fitters must work fast and be able to communicate with customers.

As an Intermediate Level Apprentice, you’ll choose to specialise in one of two areas: fast-fit, which involves identifying, removing and replacing faulty components like tyres, batteries, and brakes; or specialist tyre fitting, which deals with removing and replacing tyres on anything from cars to tractors.

On the Advanced Level Apprenticeship, you’ll learn how to supervise fast-fit operations by managing stock, organising staff and advising customers. Whether you find yourself working in a specialist fast-fit operation or in a dealership, you’ll have to be technically competent and able to work under pressure, taking account of time and cost. It’s challenging work, with job opportunities across the country.

The following providers offer this specialism:

Hull College

Hull Training (please visit www.logonmoveon.co.uk for more information)

North Lindsey College (please visit www.lincs2.co.uk for more information)

This Apprenticeship deals with the repair and maintenance of all types of vehicles, from mopeds to lorries. There are more than 32 million vehicles on the UK’s roads, which means we need plenty of motor vehicle technicians to keep them roadworthy.

As an Intermediate Level Apprentice, you could work for a dealership and focus on a particular manufacturer, or work for an independent garage that deals with many different makes of vehicles. In both, you’ll choose your area of specialisation, whether that’s motorcycles, cars, heavy vehicles or vehicle electrical systems. You’ll be working in a service technician type role, carrying out routine maintenance and basic repairs, as well as identifying and reporting faults.

On the Advanced Level Apprenticeship, you’ll learn about more complex faults and how to identify and repair them using sophisticated diagnostic equipment. Vehicle repair is challenging, hands-on work – every vehicle will present a new problem to solve. You’ll also need good communication skills in order to explain everything to the customer. But you’ll feel satisfied when the job’s done and that car is back on the road.

The following providers offer this specialism:

East Riding College

Grimsby Institute

Hull College

As an apprentice, you’ll work as an electrotechnical operative, specialising in one of four areas. You could learn how to build control panels for lighting, heating, air conditioning and ventilation systems or you could focus on finding faults and fixing them in a range of machinery. You could focus on the installation and maintenance of manufacturing systems or you could learn to test and service a range of electromechanical equipment.

Industrial electricians can be employed by many different organisations: electrical contractors, companies that provide a range of electrical and electronic services, specialist operators, and even local authorities. The industry carries out projects like wiring new shopping centres or sports stadiums; and installing CCTV systems.

Because this is an Advanced Level Apprenticeship, apprentices will be expected to have strong practical skills and advanced abilities. You’ll need to be able to follow technical drawings and understand health and safety regulations.

 

Job Roles

·         Installation Electrician

·         Maintenance Electrician

The following providers offer this specialism

Grimsby Institute

Hull College

The industry delivers successful new build, maintenance, plant upgrade and decommissioning projects worldwide across the oil, gas, water, power generation, nuclear, chemical, pharmaceutical, water, and food and drink industries. Domestically, the £16 billion industry is fundamental to the economy and the demand for engineering construction is set to rise significantly over the next decade and beyond. The Advanced Level Apprenticeship reflects the many career pathways requiring specialist skills.

The Engineering Construction Intermediate Level Apprenticeship is recognised within the industry as an entry route for new entrants to attain the minimum skills required to support work on engineering construction sites. The occupations reflect the changing nature of the work and the need to assist with some of the work functions of those trained at a higher level. It can also serve as a progression route for individuals who do not meet the criteria for direct entry on to the Advanced Level Apprenticeship.

Combining college learning with work experience, the Advanced Level Apprenticeship is recognised within the industry as the best route for attracting and developing young entrants to the industry and for them to attain the skills, industry awareness, practical experience and relevant qualifications required to work in a variety of roles on engineering construction sites, including offshore installations.

Job Roles

·         Engineering Construction Activities Support

·         Welder Support

·         Mechanical Fitter Support

·         Project Control Assistant

·         Steel Erector Support

·         Plating Support

·         Pipefitting Support

 

The following providers offer this specialism

Hull College

Long before it arrives on the shelves of IKEA, a bowl begins its life as clay in the ground. The clay is extracted and processed, moulded into shape, glazed and decorated, and heated to a high temperature to harden it.

But there’s more to ceramics than just bowls, plates and decorative vases. Ceramics make up many home items such as tiles, washbasins and toilets, lamps, water filters – even hair straighteners! Ceramic material is also found in cars, and in moulds for manufacturing everything from rubber gloves to balloons.

Another major area for ceramics is in hi-tech industry, where the particular properties of ceramics – most obviously their resistance to heat – make them superior to metals and polymers for certain tasks. Ceramic manufacture is constantly experiencing its own technological advances to make the material stronger and more versatile.

As a ceramics apprentice, you’ll learn about different ceramic manufacturing processes and quality assurance. You’ll also be learning customer care skills, so you know exactly how to meet a customer’s needs.

 

Job Roles

·         Slip Operative

·         Glaze Operative

·         Pressure Caster

·         Process Inspector

·         Hand Sprayer

·         Kiln Placer

·         Glost Inspector

·         Refire Operative

·         Effluent Plant Operative

·         Flat Maker

·         Cup Maker

·         Glaze Sprayer

·         Sponge Machine Operator

·         Robot Operator

·         Hand Decorator

·         Hand Sponger

·         Vibro Operator

·         Grinder/Polisher (Biscuit/Glost)

·         Banding Machine Operator

·         Mill & Spray Drier Operative

·         Tile Press Operative

·         Dipping & Printing Operative

·         Roller Kiln Operative

·         Glost Selecting & Packing Operative

·         Low Temperature Kiln Operative

·         Caster

·         Fettler

·         Kilnman

·         Lithographer

·         Dipper

·         Modeller

·         Mould Maker

·         Press Operator

The following providers offer this specialism

Hull College