Meet our apprentices

During construction, the project will have hundreds of new opportunities for apprenticeships in a wide range of disciplines, from site-based roles such as steel fixers and electricians, to office-based ones like accounting and engineering.

Meet some of our current apprentices and learn more about what led them to the Lower Thames Crossing.

Nina was working in teaching before the pandemic made her reassess the values in life. Whilst supporting her son with searching for his next steps, she found herself drawn to a National Highways apprenticeship webinar where she asked if mature adults could apply. She’s now back to study a 2-year Level 4 apprenticeship and loving every moment, her motto is: “learning is lifelong!”

Dominic did a week’s work experience in both marketing and insurance, before exploring construction. He’s now studying a 2-year Level 4 Apprenticeship and his advice to anyone uncertain on their next steps is “You don’t know what you like until you try, so branch out to different companies to find what’s right.”

Uncertain on what he wanted to do, Kyle went straight into work from school, spending a few years in customer service before becoming a builder. A few years on and he found himself wanting to make a change. Kyle’s now studying a 2-year Level 4 Apprenticeship. When asked what the biggest learning curve has been so far, he said: “Working from a desk again!”

Emily did her geography degree whilst at university, but chose to complete her masters as an apprentice. She says “I began to feel a real concern for whether I would actually secure a job at the end of my degree, so I started looking for something to get me out there in the real world!”

Hayden chose to do an apprenticeship for the experience and financial independence that university doesn’t give you – also driven by his goal to buy and renovate his first home in the next couple of years. He’s now studying a 5-year Level 6 Apprenticeship. When asked how he would describe his experience so far, he said: “Exciting, sometimes intense, but really rewarding.”

It wasn’t until Anna was writing her personal statement for university that she realised that she didn’t want to spend the next few years still in full-time education. She’s now studying a 5-year Level 6 Apprenticeship and says: “I had to do a lot of my own homework on apprenticeships. I’m now loving putting what I’m learning to practice with the freedom to do what I like as my qualification is being paid for an I’m earning a salary too!”

George was drawn to construction because of his dad, but after two years on site he realised it wasn’t for him. He’s now studying a 5-year Level 6 Apprenticeship in quantity surveying, where he says he has the best of both worlds. George said: “I’m excited to be part of such a significant infrastructure project and have loved my experience so far!”

After hearing the word ‘redundancy’ and with little qualifications to fall back on, Ryan decided to future proof the rest of his career by going back into education. He’s now studying a 2-year Level 4 Apprenticeship and said: “The last time I applied for an external job, it was by sending a copy of my CV by post! It’s amusing seeing myself completing coursework now as an adult when it was never something I did as a teen, but I’m really enjoying it so far.”

Charlie was drawn to the public sector after studying public services for A-Level. He says he jumped at the opportunity to work for National Highways and is now studying a 2-year Level 4 Apprenticeship. Charlie recommends an apprenticeship as: “You are able to meet the real people who do these jobs every day, who better to learn from.”