When he left school at 16 with only one GCSE, Jake couldn’t wait to get started on his Bricklaying apprenticeship with a local provider. Fast forward through a short career in the military, keen to settle down and utilise the transferable skills gained at the beginning of the career, he found himself back in the education sector.

‘I’d recommend an apprenticeship to anyone – it’s paid work, you’re learning trade skills to last a lifetime, and you can be financially independent. No day is the same, and I worked all over the North East, networking with clients and building my personal brand in the industry. I also worked towards achieving my core GCSEs, setting a good foundation for my career to grow.’

He confesses that his move into the military was impulsive, but that it taught him a huge amount, leading him back into the world of education at Stockton Riverside College: ‘It never occurred to me that what I learned during my bricklaying apprenticeship could lead me into higher education.

‘I started as an assessor on the construction course, pivoting to be a skills coach and ended up delivering the construction apprenticeship course within a few years.’

Now, Jake is part of the Education Training Collective’s Business Development team, specialising in construction. Want to find out more about where an apprenticeship could take you? Contact the Business Development team: jake.rigby@the-etc.ac.uk