Training

It’s three years of training, on-the-job experience and continual support, and you’ll learn something new every day.

Our Advanced Apprenticeship Scheme is a three-year programme that equips you with the skills and experience to become a Maintenance Engineering Technician. One of your first decisions is to decide which area of engineering you want to focus on, from Track, Signalling, Electrification & Plant, or Telecoms.

In each of the four areas, there is a structured and proven programme of training and development and it begins with a year at the training centre in Gosport. The next two years are spent in your chosen location, where you will work with experienced teams. From the very first day you will see that we work to the very highest safety standards, and this will be a critical part of your everyday life with Network Rail.

So will shift work. Once you leave the training centre and join a maintenance engineering team in your chosen location, you will work various shift patterns and this will include early mornings, night shifts, bank holidays and weekends.

By the end of the three years, you will have the qualifications (NVQ and BTec) and skills to develop a long-term career with Network Rail. Many of our Apprentices complete their first year and soon start to think about their career options – and many set their sights on becoming technical officers, team leaders or managers. And of course there are further opportunities to study a foundation degree.