National Apprenticeship Week

First East of England is Celebrating its Apprentices

It’s National Apprenticeship Week (5th to 11th February) and we are taking this opportunity to celebrate our amazing apprentices and industry leading apprenticeship schemes.

First East of England currently has 19 apprentices across the region’s 11 depots, all training to become qualified drivers or engineers. Those that successfully complete the programmes, will have an industry recognised qualification.

First East of England has been offering its Engineering Apprenticeship scheme for a number of years, and on the back of its success launched the brand-new Level 2 Bus Driver Apprenticeship scheme late last year.  

This pilot scheme aims to provide First East of England with a pathway to create new bus drivers every year, whilst also enhancing driver retention rates. 

The scheme also aims to attract a more diverse range of applicants to represent the communities First East of England serves. As such, the scheme is open to people of all, no matter what age, you just need to hold a standard UK driving licence.

Successful applicants complete the Bus Driver scheme over a 13-month period. Practical bus driving training is provided to guide apprentices through their Passenger Carrying Vehicle licence, as well as customer service training and functional skills learning in English and Maths. 

If successful, the pilot could be extended across the UK to other parts of the business in the future.  

Piers Marlow, Managing Director of First East of England, said: “We’re incredibly proud of our industry leading engineering apprenticeship scheme, and are excited to be piloting the new driver scheme in Essex.

“I’m pleased that National Apprenticeship Week is giving us the opportunity to celebrate our apprentices, who are all working incredibly hard and have a bright future ahead of them.”

First East of England will be advertising its 2024 apprenticeship scheme places on the First Bus Careers Page in the coming months, so check regularly for updates.

We will be celebrating some of our brilliant apprentices this week with a profile a day on Facebook and Twitter @FirstEssex.