As many young people head off to university, apprenticeships remain a popular option.

Government figures for the last academic year show apprenticeship starts increased by 8.8% to 308,770 compared to 284,190 reported the previous year.

Competition for apprenticeship places is strong, and 19-year-old Oliver “Ollie” Lee from Dartmouth is one of the lucky ones.

Ollie secured a paid engineering placement with Oriole in Paignton after studying T Level Design and Development for Engineering and Manufacturing at South Devon College.

The placement didn’t just teach Ollie new skills.

“His progress was impressive, and several of his ideas and designs have since been incorporated into systems delivered to Oriole’s manufacturing test team,” says Ross, Chief Test Engineer at Oriole.

 That contribution, combined with his ability to apply new knowledge to real problems, led Oriole to offer him a Level 6 BSc Apprenticeship.

This month, Ollie continues at South Devon College, progressing onto an Integrated Technologies Engineering (Advanced Mechanical Design and Practice) degree alongside his apprenticeship.

Ollie says he’s always wanted to know how things work. “I love to solve problems and understand the process behind things,” he says. “Engineering is a perfect fit.”

 The strong partnership that South Devon College has built with Oriole, says Tracey Dawson, Skills Development Coordinator for Engineering at South Devon College, “demonstrates the impact employers can have on the next generation of budding engineers.

 “Their commitment to providing meaningful placement opportunities, plus their trust in the College to identify the right learner in the beginning, has given Ollie an incredible start to his career while helping to keep local talent within the Bay, all of which makes me very honoured to be part of.”

Ollie admits that Oriole works in a completely different field of engineering to what he was used to, and one task stood out: laser alignment, using lasers with wavelengths invisible to the human eye. “I never expected to be working with lasers that you cannot see,” he says.

 Steve Caunter, Assistant Principal at South Devon College reflecting on Ollie’s story says it perfectly reflects what they are striving to achieve at the College.

“We want to create transformative opportunities that connect learning with industry and help learners discover futures they may never have imagined.  

“Through strong partnerships with employers such as Oriole, we’re not only developing technical skills, but also building confidence, ambition and a sense of possibility. Seeing local talent progress from the classroom into highly skilled careers demonstrates the powerful impact of collaborative education and industry working together to shape the workforce of the future.” 

For Ollie, the experience has reshaped what he thinks is possible. “Working within Oriole has introduced me to people who have had careers in fields I didn’t even know existed,” he says. “My own career aspirations have never been so wild.” He’s no longer able to point to a single path and expects that to keep changing the longer he stays.

 His advice to anyone considering the same route is straightforward: “If you want early industry insight and like the idea of practical learning intertwined with theoretical learning, it’s a good course to enrol in. It can provide ways into further education, an apprenticeship, or a full-time job.” 

Oriole’s partnership with South Devon College now runs through its T Level placement scheme, with two more students currently partway through theirs. For Oriole, it’s a low-cost, low-risk way to identify talent early and see how someone works before committing to a hire. For Ollie, it turned out to be the start of a career he hadn’t fully mapped out yet, and one that keeps expanding the more he learns. 

South Devon College’s Ready. Skilled. Funded. campaign connects local employers with funded apprenticeship talent like Oliver.