Engineering success thanks to UWS

Jamie Arnott, Graduate Engineer at Wallace Stone, has advanced his career thanks to UWS's Graduate Apprenticeship (GA) in Civil Engineering.

Jamie recently graduated from UWS with First Class Honours and also won the University’s Court Medal for being the top student in his year.

As a GA student, Jamie was able to integrate his academic learning with his workplace activities and demonstrate the application of his knowledge, skills and understanding in a professional environment. Jamie has been working at consulting civil engineers Wallace Stone, specialists in the field of marine and floating structures, for over six years.

Jamie, 26, said: “Since I was a kid I have had a passion for drawing and design which led me to pursue a career within a field where I could explore my interests. After participating in Falkirk Council’s traineeship programme as a Trainee Architectural Technician in 2015, I joined Wallace Stone LLP as a Junior Civil Engineering Technician. In 2016, I started my HNC in Civil Engineering at Glasgow Kelvin College on a day-release basis. Upon completion of this course in 2018, I wanted to continue my studies and began the Graduate Apprenticeship in Civil Engineering at UWS.

“Studying a degree whilst working was very challenging and took a lot of dedication and hard work. However, I believe my studies benefitted greatly from the guidance and support which I had from my work colleagues. This support network provided me with a forum to ask questions and pushed me to complete my university work to a high standard.”

The GA in Civil Engineering is a Work Based Learning degree which is mostly delivered in the workplace, ensuring that the content is aligned to industry needs. Typically students spend one day per week at UWS, with the work and learning they do in their workplace making a significant contribution towards their degree.

Jamie added: “The work-based element of the degree contextualised learning by enabling knowledge gained at the University to be transferred to real work situations and vice versa. This has enabled be to progress professionally by expanding my knowledge and accelerating the time it took me to gain professional accreditation - Engineering Technician (EngTech) membership -  with the Institute of Civil Engineers (ICE).

 “In July 2022, I graduated with First Class Honours and received both the UWS Court Medal and ICE Student Prize.”

Graduate Apprenticeships offer a chance for apprentices to work with leading employers whilst studying for an Honours Degree at UWS.

Gordon Brown, Partner at Wallace Stone, said: “Jamie was progressing well within the company and was nearing a Senior Technician level having gained extensive experience in our specialised field of Marine Civil Engineering. The Graduate Apprentice scheme offered us a route to engage Jamie in further learning to degree level whilst mitigating the impact of losing his expertise and experience should he have undertaken a fulltime course at university. We were also able to appoint an Apprentice Technician in tandem with Jamie who would cover the technician role once he graduated as an Engineer. The apprenticeship scheme has been a considerable benefit to the business.”

A GA in Civil Engineering at UWS provides a broad knowledge of core Civil Engineering subject areas including structural, geotechnical, water engineering, materials and hydraulics. It also equips apprentices with graduate attributes such as teamwork, critical thinking and creativity.

The Civil Engineering GA programme has also been accredited by Joint Board of Moderators (JBM) as fully satisfying the academic base for an Incorporated Engineer and part satisfying the academic base for a Chartered Engineer.

To find out more about the BEng (Hons) Civil Engineering Graduate Apprenticeship visit the course page of the University’s website or email apprenticeships@uws.ac.uk