Class of 2020 – Jacob Slater, Year 13

UTC Leeds graduate Jacob Slater is happy to be progressing to a Degree Apprenticeship in Nuclear Engineering

Jacob Slater joined UTC Leeds for sixth form studies from his school near Pontefract in order to do Engineering. He said, “My careers officer mentioned the UTC and it was the only place I wanted to come. My Dad has always been in Engineering and he got me fixing stuff with him. As I’m interested in Physics as well, it all tied together nicely.”

He studied Maths, Physics and Chemistry A Levels alongside an Engineering technical qualification at the UTC.

Jacob has now secured a Degree Apprenticeship in Nuclear Engineering at Westinghouse Springfields at Preston which manufactures fuel for nuclear reactors, covering most of the fuel requirements for the UK’s nuclear power stations. Jacob will move over to Preston to start his new post in January.

Jacob saw the opportunity on the government’s National Apprenticeships website. The job application process was quite long involving a number of stages, the last one being an interview. He said, “They asked us to complete problem-solving tasks and fill out a report about it. What I did at the UTC definitely helped. Having done the Engineering course it made it so much easier, I wouldn’t have known what to do if I hadn’t done that course.

I’ve really enjoyed my time here at the UTC. The nuclear topic in Physics was my favourite, which is why I decided to pursue a career in that field. Most of the projects in the Engineering course have been great as well, especially making a steering wheel for our CAD (Computer Aided Design) project – that was really good, I enjoyed that.”

Jacob liked the fact that the sixth form at the UTC was smaller than in a general college or school: “I think I preferred it really because the class sizes are smaller so you get a lot more one-on-one time with teachers, a lot more individual help, which I think is really important.”