This year marks our 35th year of operations and in that time we have become one of the North of England’s leading providers of apprenticeships in engineering and lab operations supplying talented young people to the chemical, petrochemical, process, power, paper, pharmaceutical, nuclear and oil and gas industries throughout the region.
Our mission today remains the same as in 1990, namely to:
“provide relevant, high-quality apprenticeships and other technical training to industry within the North West of England. And also to provide an outstanding environment for learning that is welcoming, safe, inspiring, suitably resourced, and well managed.”
It’s something of which we are immensely proud, giving local people the prospect of a great career and graduating from our first class learning environment but also from our whole person development programme.
Of course, we would say this, but those to whom we are accountable think so as well. Our latest Ofsted report is a testament to our commitment to excellence and giving those who pass through our doors the best chance of employment and a lifetime of prosperity and fulfilment.
No complacency here
In 2017 we were rated ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted, an achievement repeated after our most recent inspection. This underpins our consistent approach to teaching and learning. We don’t rest on our laurels at TTE.
For a full picture, it’s really worth clicking on the link to the report on our home page. However, we will be picking out certain aspects in the coming months. For now here’s a flavour: “Leaders develop a highly ambitious curriculum, which meets the needs of employers, apprentices and learners.
Apprentices develop substantial new knowledge and skills beyond the apprenticeship standard.
“Apprentices on the mechanical pathway develop additional skills in electrical engineering. They use this knowledge to competently carry out electrical lockout on equipment before commencing mechanical maintenance. Consequently, apprentices become multiskilled engineers, which allows their employers to deploy them on a range of activities beyond their core apprenticeship.”
So, we don’t just tick boxes; we take our young people as far as we are expected to and then even further. As the report says: “Learners are prepared well for successful careers in the engineering sector.”
Follow the thread
And there is a thread here which reaches back to your very first Ofsted report in 1998 in which inspectors wrote: “Trainees at TTE have good prospects of achieving the qualifications at which they are aiming and of securing employment.”
It’s a sentiment that has been repeated in every subsequent report. But what really makes TTE stand out is the continuing collaboration between our apprentices and learners and our staff – we are all in it together and our commitment to excellence is mutual and mutually beneficial.
And the results are there for all to see. For the 2021/22 academic year, TTE’s published apprenticeship qualification achievement rate was 89.5 per cent, which was 38.1 per cent above the national average rate for apprenticeship standards of just 51.4 per cent. The vast majority of our starters arrive with little or no technical skills and experience.
Clearly we are doing something right and the aim is to continue to do so.