Inspiring engineers of the future during National Apprenticeships Week

At age 15, few teenagers may say that their future careers are all mapped out. 

But this week HMGCC hosted a special event inviting more than 100 pupils to explore where science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) could take them. 

The event, run jointly with FCDO Services, saw students from five Milton Keynes schools meet at Bletchley Park to take part in the Innovators at the Parks event. 

Students took part in a series of fun STEM workshops and were also given the chance to find out more about our apprenticeship opportunities. 

The event was held to coincide with National Apprenticeships Week, so our apprentices were also on hand to share more about what this career route can offer. 

Jada has just completed her HMGCC software engineering and testing apprenticeship with distinction. She explained: “I had a computer science teacher in school who really pushed me to go into science and coding; he was the one who said to me ‘you are really good, you should do something with this’. It can be a male-dominated field but women in particular who have a STEM subject they are good at can really benefit from having a champion. Sometimes you just need a teacher to say ‘you are good at this’ and to have that important encouragement.” 

Eva, who runs the apprenticeship programme at HMGCC, said: “Applying for an apprenticeship at HMGCC is an amazing opportunity for people at the start of their careers to carry out real work for national security. Our apprentices are immersed in the real work of HMGCC and are given the chance to work alongside, and to learn from, a huge range of world-class tech experts across a range of disciplines. 

“Taking on an apprenticeship at HMGCC can be life changing, with many of our intake working with us, even after their apprenticeship has come to an end.” 

HMGCC apprenticeships cover a range of subject areas, including electronics and software development. They are open to those aged 18 and over. The schemes offer training to support the creation of one-off, cutting-edge products as well as the opportunity to learn from HMGCC experts and to work in a hi-tech facility. The next opportunity to apply will be autumn this year.  

To find out more about apprenticeships, see our Apprenticeships page.