TWELVE newly-qualified engineers from the College of West Anglia were presented with completion certificates at the Boathouse Business Centre in Wisbech.

The students received their certificates from college principal David Pomfret on Monday in the presence of Teresa Logan, employer services director for the National Apprentice Service, and their employers.

Tina Welland, work based learning supervisor at the college’s Isle campus in Wisbech, said: “I feel very proud to have been part of the apprentices’ training and this important celebration event. They all worked extremely hard to achieve level two and level three apprenticeships with excellent results.

“I would like to thank the employers and the tutors for supporting them throughout the programme and to everyone that attended on the evening.”

Ms Logan described the calibre of the apprentices as “excellent” and said: “The support of employers nationally has been fantastic and this can be seen in the fact that there have been more applications for the BT apprenticeship scheme than who applied to Oxford University.”

John McColl, regional maintenance manager at industrial mineral provider Sibelco UK, said: “We have a great partnership with the college and have had two excellent apprentices.

“The college has tailored the course to fit the needs of the company and Tina Welland has been excellent. She always follows things up and has been spot on.”

Sibelco UK apprentice Stephen Allen was one of the students recognised. He wanted to complete an apprenticeship as he is a more ‘hands-on’ person and learned about apprenticeships while at school.

He said: “Completing an apprenticeship has given me practical, hands-on experience but also allows me to learn the theory at college, which I can then put into practice at work.”

Fellow apprentice Daniel Whitrid, an engineering apprentice at Premier Foods, said: “I chose an apprenticeship as I wanted to get hands-on experience. My tutors, John and Stuart, have been brilliant and they have passed on loads of knowledge with what they taught us.

“Now I have finished my apprenticeship I plan to complete the level 3 apprenticeship and carry on working for Premier Foods.

“I would recommend an apprenticeship as you get hands on experience and gives you a better start to your working life.”

Julie Gutteridge, HR Advisor for Premier Foods, said: “Having apprentices through the College of West Anglia has been a benefit to our organisation as we have an aging workforce and the apprenticeship scheme allows skills and knowledge to be passed on to a younger generation. We currently have four apprentices and this is our second wave of apprentices from the college.”