Stuart Martin is a Wet Laboratory Support Technician in the School of Engineering and shared the School’s experience of hosting a Foundation Apprentice in their team.

Photo by Sam Sills

“There has been a bit of concern amongst technicians about the sustainability of our jobs and the work that we do due to the lack of visibility around our roles. Since the University signed the commitment, a new foundation apprentice scheme has been put in place, inviting senior school students to come and learn from Technicians as part of their Highers work.

“Given that so many technical staff are approaching retirement, the Foundation Apprentice Science Course provides a unique opportunity for labs to train senior school students for entry level positions that may imminently arise. Often a Foundation Apprentice can lead into a Modern Apprenticeship which bolsters the technical service we offer to the school by bringing in new talent at entry level.

“We decided to try hosting a Foundation Apprentice here in the School of Engineering within our chemical and biological labs. It has been a hugely positive experience for the staff in a mentoring context and we have all enjoyed teaching her about the complexity of our technical roles and supporting her to learn basic laboratory skills.

“The apprentice has mostly been shadowing our technical staff but we also created some simple analytical tasks for her to complete to meet the prescribed learning outcomes she requires to secure the vocational qualification. For example, she has learned the theory behind chromatographic and spectroscopic analytical techniques and how they are used in student research, mammalian cell culture principles and aseptic techniques.

“A Foundation Apprenticeship is a valuable opportunity for a young person to explore career options early in their lives, so that they have a chance to start matching up what they like to do, their passions, and their talents with a career. It is an exciting way of gaining skills and qualifications and allows the apprentice to start a career without having to study full-time. There are also huge benefits for the technician who mentors and coaches the apprentice in a professional development and motivational context.”

An edited version of this post first appeared on the University of Edinburgh Bulletin Magazine Blog.

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Technically Minded – Stuart Martin [Reposted from University of Edinburgh Bulletin Magazine] / University of Edinburgh Technicians by blogadmin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0

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