Twenty new entrants have been enrolled on ISS Labour’s (ISSL) new National Rail Apprentice Scheme (NRAS).
Launched at the end of 2013, the scheme delivers comprehensive specialist rail training in partnership with Intertrain, providing successful apprentices with an NVQ L2 Diploma in Railway Engineering.
ISSL, a major supplier of resource to the rail industry, is helping to identify, train and employ the next generation of railway workers.
As well as training the apprentices, ISSL guarantees local employment at the end of the programme.
Applicants are able to attend interactive Information, advice and guidance sessions which tell them about working within the rail sector and what rewards pursuing a qualification in the sector can bring.
Class of 2014
The first 20 apprentices joined the scheme in January 2014.
Says ISSL apprentice Paul Smith, ‘Starting the Railway Engineering Apprenticeship with ISS has opened up doors for me. I have been taught so much and taken part in so many practical activities and I am always learning. I look forward to climbing the ranks in the industry as I see it as a job for life with the investment in the infrastructure.’
Says Gary Beeston, managing director of ISSL, ‘We have committed to our new National Rail Apprentice Scheme, and I am delighted that our first two groups who started in January are progressing well.
‘We are already looking for our next intake and we will continue with the scheme and with working collaboratively with our industry partners to invest in the future and to bring new people onto the railway.’
Training
ISSL apprentices are trained in PTS, TIC and DCCR and in addition receive, Manual Handling, IOSH Working Safely, First Aid at Work and the full complement of rail small tools. Training is undertaken against a range of composite tasks that are routinely performed within both renewals and maintenance.
As well as PTS/TIC/DCCR and small tools competencies, ISSL Apprentices gain a VRQ L2 Certificate in Railway Underpinning Knowledge, an NVQ L2 Diploma in Railway Engineering and L1 Functional Skills in English & Maths.
In November 2013, Driver Hire Group became the majority shareholder of the business.
Driver Hire UK is a specialist transport and logistics recruitment company, which operates from 102 offices nationwide and has yearly sales approaching £100m.
If you would like to find out more about the NRAS, please contact Nicki Sunderland on 0800 7833382
