UTC South Durham student Stephen Henry has secured a competitive degree apprenticeship with BTS Facades and Fabrications, a Newton Aycliffe-based company which manufactures high-quality facade and rain-screen products.
Year 13 student Stephen joined UTC South Durham in 2016 and achieved excellent GCSE results before continuing to study A-Levels in Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Computer Science.
He has secured a Civil Engineering Degree Apprenticeship with BTS and will start in September 2020, splitting his time between BTS and Teeside University.
“I am excited about starting at BTS and looking forward to the new challenge and what the future holds,” said Stephen.
BTS managing director Phil Atkinson, pictured above with Stephen, said: “Stephen first came to BTS for work experience back in 2016. Since then, he has joined us several times during holiday periods and has shown great potential. When the opportunity arose to offer Stephen an apprenticeship, we were delighted that he accepted.
“With the way the industry is going, in terms of increased use of automated machines, it is imperative that we continue to invest in people to help achieve the long term goals of the business.
“We are confident that Stephen will prove to be a valuable member of our expanding team and look forward to working with him for many years to come.”
As part of National Apprenticeship Week last week, UTC South Durham supported the event by hosting launches for Hydram, Costain, and Gestamp’s apprenticeship schemes, organising a careers fair with over 30 employers from the local area, and taking students on visits to local businesses, including Husqvarna and SMJ.
Apprenticeships are a popular pathway for UTC students with 66% of Year 13 leavers in 2019 securing paid higher or advanced level apprenticeships (the national schools average is 7%).