Dozens of apprenticeships up for grabs with Sizewell C

Students from East Coast College will be among the hopefuls applying for the next round of Sizewell C apprenticeships today.

Doosan Babcock, a tier one contractor for the Sizewell C Mechanical Programme, will visit the students and run a series of workshops to find out if they may be suitable for their next steps towards joining the project to build Suffolk’s new nuclear power station. There are dozens of apprenticeships on offer in welding, project controls and pipe fitting.

The day-long session will cover classroom based academic tests and practical assessments in the college workshops using equipment such as the welding bays.

Sarah Williamson, Sizewell C Civils Programme Director said: “Sizewell C will deliver 1,500 apprenticeships and these early opportunities are a fantastic route into the project for students to learn their craft at Hinkley Point C and transfer back to Sizewell C as qualified welders and engineers. The opportunities are real, they are being delivered now and I would encourage anyone serious in pursuing a rewarding career in civils to consider the growing nuclear sector.”

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 Jack Milton as a student and now as an apprentice helping select the next apprentices for Sizewell C at last year’s welding assessment centre at East Coast college.
Jack Milton was a student at East Coast College when he was selected for a Sizewell C apprenticeship, he is now in the second year of the programme and recommends the training to other local students, “I am on my way to being a qualified welder, ready to work at Sizewell C.”

The project is working with local education providers, such as East Coast College, to ensure the skills are in place now so local people can work with Sizewell C.

Sizewell C will need a diverse range of skills from construction and engineering through to hospitality and project management. The project has signed Memorandum of Understanding with all FE colleges in Suffolk to ensure the skills are in place for local people to take up the opportunities that will be on offer.

Some of those apprenticeships have already started with us and young people from Lowestoft are working at Hinkley Point C, which is five years into construction, and will come back to Sizewell C fully qualified.

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When the power station is operational, it will deliver 900 skilled well-paid roles to people living within a 25-mile radius of Sizewell. This is in addition to the 800 roles at Sizewell B where many of the managers studied at Alde Valley Academy (then Leiston High School) joining as apprentices and progressing through the organisation to become leaders of the power station.

Case study

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Joshua Wilkins, Sizewell C Project Controls Apprentice
“I am a project controls apprentice for Sizewell C. It is a three-year apprenticeship which I started at Hinkley Point C in Somerset and am completing in Suffolk with Sizewell C.
Before I joined the project, I studied Level 2 and Level 3 courses in science, IT, maths and game development and engineering at East Norfolk Sixth Form College. The 3D modelling and code development in gaming has been useful for working on the 4D design of Hinkley Point C.
My family recommended the apprenticeship to me as both my dad and grandad worked on the construction of Sizewell B.  I am learning so much and really enjoy combining learning with on-the-job experience.”