Engineering
them a better understanding of the company,” explains Holmes. “After that, they choose their next placements themselves and work their way around the business, so they can align their skills and interests with the work they do.” Rolls-Royce works hard to help sixth form school- leavers understand what’s on offer at the company, through schools talks, careers events and open evenings. “We hold special events for parents who may not realise what degree apprenticeships are, and still think you have to go to university to get a degree,” describes Holmes. “We try and break down those barriers, so they understand that you can come to Rolls-Royce, earn a wage and get exactly the same qualification by the end of a degree apprenticeship – with no student loans to repay afterwards.” Starting salaries for degree apprentices at Rolls-
Royce are currently £20,700, rising to £30,200 for apprentices in the fourth year of the programme. “We don’t necessarily look for applicants with previous engineering experience. But we do want people who have the passion, drive and self- motivation to do well,” she concludes.
and size to replace one that was missing. It took many long hours to find the right supplier, but it needed to be right. These are such specialist, high-value vehicles and all the work is done by hand, because none of the cars are still in production. I’m currently based at JLR’s main site in Solihull in the emissions testing team. I’m due to finish my degree apprenticeship in summer 2025, when I’ll move into a permanent role within the quality department. Having the financial security of a monthly income has made
On another project, I managed the fleet of vehicles that are used to certify the company’s cars, scheduling the different tests to be done on them and driving them to our workshops. And I’ve spent time working in quality assurance, looking at why there are delays or problems on the main vehicle production lines. A real highlight for me was the classics engineering department. It’s the division within JLR that has its own build hall and showroom dedicated to restoring classic cars, like the old Land Rover Defenders and Jaguar XJ220s. One of my jobs there was to source a particular bolt that had precisely the right colouring, finish
doing the emissions-testing on cars, rather than on the
production side. Since I started, my department has facilitated more than a dozen placements for me in lots of different areas of the business, to ensure I get the knowledge, skills and experience I need for my degree. It’s been incredibly varied and I’ve learnt a huge amount. I’ve used CAD (computer-aided design) to work on the concept design for a new headlamp. I’ve done NVH (noise, vibration & harshness) testing on vehicles – driving cars on our emissions test-track and using trackside recorders to get data on the noise the car makes when it accelerates.
such a difference during my apprenticeship. I haven’t had the long summer breaks that
university students enjoy, but I’ve now got savings and managed to buy my second car last year. And I’ve got the travel bug too, with trips to Morrocco, Iceland and Spain, all thanks to the salary from my apprenticeship. The whole experience has been amazing, I feel very lucky to be where I am, to do the work I do – and for all the skills and knowledge I’ve developed during the degree apprenticeship. ”
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