Ollie Priestley isn’t doing just any mechanical apprenticeship.
Working at specialist car restoration business Tolman, 29-year-old Priestley has started a “heritage vehicle technician” apprenticeship. He is learning the skills of working on modern classic cars that require a mix of traditional and new techniques to restore.
New technologies are enabling those techniques – from computer-aided design (CAD) for new vehicle components to 3D printing them, as well as learning the intricacies of a car’s electronic control units.
“I wanted to develop the skills that would allow me to work on cars that I love and excite me, like the Peugeot 205 GTI,” says Leicestershire-based Priestley.
“Knowing how to build things keeps me focused and engaged. I built a gearbox mount for a classic BMW. It’s nice to know that the things I build will bring the car back to life.”
Chris Tolman, founder of Tolman, says what Priestley is learning sets him apart from apprentices in mainstream car dealerships, who are increasingly “just fitter” because of digital tools.
“The computer identifies the problem and they swap out the part. For specialist car businesses, our technicians need to identify and understand a problem, and then be creative and innovative to find the answer,” says Tolman, who lives in Warwickshire.
Tolman’s talk highlights an important question that underpins how trade apprentices are taught today, as technology plays an increasingly larger role.
As a result, apprenticeships are moving up the education value chain.
For example, Priestley’s three-year apprenticeship, which she is doing through the Heritage Skills Academy in Bicester (HSA), was launched in 2018 to include essential skills such as welding and glazing, as well as 3D printing and CAD among other digital skills.
This is a three-level apprenticeship offering the equivalent of three A-levels. It replaces the previous level two and three “classic vehicle framework” apprenticeship.
HSA managing director John Pitchforth says it is a “radical improvement” as it combines “modern technology with the fundamentals of engineering”.
Government apprenticeship data also shows that the number of people starting level two intermediate apprenticeships has fallen by almost a quarter compared to last year, in favor of people starting higher level apprenticeships – levels four to seven.
Levels six and seven are equivalent to bachelor’s and master’s degrees respectively. Level three apprenticeship numbers have remained stable.
But with the increasing influence of technology on the curriculum, are trainees now just learning how to run computer software at the expense of real skills of a specific trade?
HSA’s Pitchforth argues that the organization’s trainees turn out to be highly skilled – perhaps more so than other programs.
He says, “When modern engineers come to us to transfer to our field, they often lack basic engineering principles and are unable to diagnose and repair vehicle systems without being told by a computer.”
