What did you study before your apprenticeship?
I’m on to my third career now! I started off in catering management and I didn’t get the best of grades and always thought I could do better. I took some time off to travel after university and then worked in hospitality. The economic crisis meant that hospitality took a hit so I ended up working in the family business as a butcher. I took some career guidance and worked out that I wanted to work in this sector and ended up taking a job at Natural England.
Which organisation do you work for and what university degree will you achieve on completion of your apprenticeship?
I work for Natural England and will achieve an Environmental Science (Practitioner) BSc degree from Keele University upon completion. This is a full degree over 5 years.
What made you choose an apprenticeship?
I’ve always been interested in food and how that gets to our plate, this has fuelled my interest in the natural world. I was one of the first people through the door in the Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) team at Natural England, and 3 months into the degree apprenticeship scheme, I got asked if I would be interested in doing the degree apprenticeship. I knew that degree apprenticeships were a thing but nothing had stuck out to me before, but this did! This seemed to be the right fit and there seemed to be no downsides. My organisation pay for my qualification and I get time at work to study. The apprenticeship runs in a way that I can fit it in to 20% of my working time.
Have there been any challenges?
I have a young family so juggling work, studying and family time has been a challenge. I can fit my apprenticeship in my working hours but I would be scraping a pass, if I want to achieve good grades then I need to put some work in over the weekends. I was having problems getting started with coursework, the university offered me the opportunity to go for an ADHD assessment and I have now been diagnosed with ADHD. I am hopeful, because of the opportunities available to me, I can now work on getting the help to get on with the course as well as putting steps in place to make my life easier in the long run. I don’t think I would be in this position if I hadn’t taken the opportunity of the apprenticeship.
What does a typical week look like?
I work Monday – Friday and I take Friday as my study day. I have weekly lectures which come as a 2 hour block, these are sometimes live and sometimes pre-recorded. When we start new modules, we have a week on campus for lectures and practicals. Mornings tend to be for lectures and afternoons for practicals. There is a really nice learning environment and it helps to engage with the module better, building relationships with the class so that you can support each other.
