Luke Jackson (Chair)

Luke Jackson is a 24 year old Electrical Maintenance Advanced Apprentice working at Corus in Scunthorpe. Like many Apprentices Luke went to college after leaving school as he was unsure what career path to follow and started undertaking several AS & A Levels. After his A-Levels, unsure of where to go next he decided an apprenticeship was a win-win situation as he would gain a trade for life and valuable life experience.

Luke benefited from the vocational way of learning and has gained several other qualifications during his time as an Apprentice, including a crane driving qualification, a technical certificate and key skills qualifications – things Luke wouldn’t have even considered before starting his Apprenticeship. Luke agrees that the Apprenticeship has developed his personal confidence and understanding of the UK manufacturing industry along with giving him the skills and understanding to progress in this field.

Luke stated that “being allowed to work at my own pace” has been key to his success. The Apprenticeship is different as my assessor assesses me on the job, doing the actually job. Okay I may need to write the odd assignment however I’m actually doing the job which surely can be the only way to learn a trade? Luke continued “A trade is for life, no matter what else you do in life the Apprenticeship framework will always be recognised across the world”.

Luke continued to describe his week as a Advanced Apprentice with Corus, “Normally no two days are the same, some days I maybe working as part of a team or on my own depending on what activities and jobs the engineer has lined up for me. I maybe working at heights or in confined spaces it can change on a day to day basis, that’s one of the great things about being an Apprentice. My assessor visited me every couple of weeks to concentrate on my NVQ framework which is part of my Apprenticeship, I may have to provide him with evidence of work I’ve done over the course of the week by getting witness testimonies from colleagues. My assessor may also want to watch me complete certain tasks to ensure I complete all the competencies of my Apprenticeship”.

Luke is also heavily involved in promoting Apprenticeship and is the Chair of the Humber Apprentice Panel, HAP gives Luke the opportunity to voice his opinion on Apprenticeships along with feeding back concerns and praise from other like minded Apprentices. Luke is also involved in the Trade Union and assists by attending conferences and meetings to discuss the life of a typical Apprentice. Luke recently met Gordon Brown PM though his work with the Union.

Luke had this to say about learner voice “Being apart of the Humber Apprentice Panel has been epic! I’ve been able to give my opinion where it’s mattered, I’ve met government officials and told them what’s good about Apprenticeship and what’s not so good about them. Hopefully learner voice mechanisms like this will continue as its shaping the future of learning in general and making an instant impact along with a long lasting impact to the future of learning”.

Luke is currently nearing the end of his Advanced Apprenticeship and has already set his sights on the future and is hoping to progress into a management role one day.