National apprenticeship milestone for Jordan

Jordan Gallone (20) became the 100,000th apprentice to successfully complete an end-point assessment (EPA) and pass their apprenticeship.

Apprenticeship frameworks were fully replaced by apprenticeship standards on August 1st 2020 with the biggest change meaning that all apprenticeships now have an end-point assessment. This new form of assessment ensures that apprentices are competent; some EPAs are graded from a pass up to a distinction.

Jordan started his apprenticeship in September 2016 when he was successful in his application for a Toolmaker apprenticeship at Automotive and Advanced Manufacturing experts, Gestamp Tallent – who have a factory based in Newton Aycliffe. Gestamp have an excellent partnership with Hartlepool College of Further Education who have successfully trained all of their level three engineering apprentices at the College over the past 10 years.

Not only was Jordan the 100,000th apprentice nationally to pass his EPA, but he was also part of the first cohort of nine engineering apprentices to pass their EPA at the College. The College currently trains and educates over 250 engineering apprentices working with a large number of employers across various engineering disciplines, from Advanced Manufacturing to Process and Chemical and also Aerospace Engineering.

Jordan initially started an Engineering Manufacture framework following a Toolmaker pathway and at the end of year one of his apprenticeship Gestamp Tallent decided to switch Jordan and the eight other apprentices in the same cohort from Gestamp to the level three Engineering Technician standard with Jordan continuing on the Toolmaker pathway.

During his apprenticeship, Jordan completed a level 3 diploma in advanced manufacturing engineering and a higher national certificate in engineering, as well as an NVQ level two and three during the four years he was an apprentice. Jordan studied five days a week at Hartlepool College in year one of his apprenticeship and then on a day release basis for years two, three and four.

Jordan said “The apprenticeship went very well, it allowed me to develop technical and interpersonal skills that I will remember for a long time and use to build on more and more as I continue through my career. It offered a more professional experience to school and helped me not just to focus but to want to focus to help the department. The support I gained from my manager, shift leaders and colleagues were great. Whenever I needed the flexibility to do College tests, etc. I was always authorised and anytime I needed help, a fellow toolmaker would go out their way to help me learn. The College also give great support putting on maths revision sessions on a Monday morning that was non-compulsory but was additional sessions to help those who needed it and always giving well-detailed lectures that were delivered well. The EPA went well and I could not have done it without Stuart Barker, my work based assessor from the College, who give me step by step guidance on how to put together my EAL portfolio and my log books which I would be questioned on in my EPA and how to complete it successfully. I was glad and excited knowing I had passed because I knew it was the end of the apprenticeship and the beginning of my full-time career. As for the next steps I have enrolled on a degree apprenticeship with Gestamp and Teesside University, which is going great so far. The degree is a mechanical engineering bachelor’s degree which with the apprenticeship standard reaches the criteria for an Incorporated Engineer Accreditation with the Institute of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE). In the longer term, I plan to go on to complete a Master’s in engineering and achieve Chartered Engineer Accreditation with the IMechE”.