Former carer completes heating apprenticeship
Custom HeatA former carer has completed her re-training as a heating engineer, a year after she was named Apprentice of the Year.
Beth Jenkins from Rugby, Warwickshire, started an apprenticeship with a local company in 2024, after looking for a career that offered long-term prospects.
"I loved the caring job, but unfortunately the pay's not there and the hours are quite difficult", she said.
She was named heating and plumbing apprentice of the year by a trade magazine, and said that despite entering a traditionally male-dominated industry, her sex had never been an issue.
"All the lads at Custom Heat have been brilliant. I've never felt out of place there, they've all been great.
"They have the same laugh with me as they do with everybody else and they don't treat me any different, like I can't do anything, so I'm really lucky in that sense."
The 28-year-old is also one of almost 200,000 people who achieved the standard required by their apprenticeship scheme in the last academic year, according to data from the government.
Statistics published by the government in January, show there were 13,120 people registered on apprenticeship schemes in Coventry and Warwickshire in the academic year 2024-25, with 3,550 people graduating after reaching the required standard.
The data also suggests that the majority of people starting a scheme in the last year were female.
The government said it aimed to deliver an extra 50,000 apprenticeships and will introduce a university-style clearing system, so young people who miss out on a place with one firm can be matched to another company offering similar training.
The Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said the scheme, which is being tested out this year, would "give those who miss out on their top-choice apprenticeship a second chance by matching them with another opportunity in their area".
Follow BBC Coventry & Warwickshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
