Following our successful Engineering apprenticeship programme in partnership with BAE Systems, our Business and Computing Sector have recently negotiated a major contract with BAE Systems Naval Ships.  Working together, BAE staff and WCS computing staff agreed a bespoke programme that met the specialisms of the Combat Systems on Naval ships at BAE.

West College Scotland Computing will train BAE’s Combat Systems apprentices over a four-year period in Computer Networking.  This rolling apprenticeship programme will see a new intake arrive at WCS every year.  The apprentices will study full-time at WCS Clydebank in their first year, and then attend WCS on a day release basis in the subsequent three years.

After four years, the BAE apprentices will have gained their HND in Computer Networking and a range of professional qualifications from Cisco Systems and Microsoft.  These awards allied to the practical skills they will learn at WCS and BAE Systems will ensure that they move into their job roles as combat systems specialists effectively.

The first BAE apprentice cohort started this August and has settled into their course very quickly.

BAE Combat Systems apprentice Leigh Price said, ‘the networking course contains a lot of challenging content but is still fun, with plenty of practical work that is relevant to our job requirements.’

Fellow apprentice Ewan Christie commented, ‘The course has been great so far, it’s challenging and will definitely meet the requirements for our future careers.’

Marie Brennan of BAE Systems commented on the programme:

West College Scotland has a long standing relationship with BAE Systems Naval Ships.  When introducing a new Combat Systems Technical Apprentice programme it was clear the Clydebank Campus had both the staff and facilities required to deliver the key academic elements of this four year programme.

By working in partnership the content of the course was agreed between the college staff and the business to ensure the programme meets the needs of the individuals and the business and growing capability for the future.

Bill Gallacher, Head of Sector at West College Scotland said, ‘We are delighted that BAE have chosen West College Scotland to be their partners in delivering this important programme.  The BAE apprentices will be developing the electronic and computer combat systems for Naval ships being constructed at Scotstoun.  The networking and programming skills the apprentices will learn at WCS will complement their on the job training at BAE.  We believe this is the beginning of a long and fruitful relationship between West College Scotland Computing and BAE Systems.’