National Apprenticeship Week returns from 9 to 15 February, celebrating the achievements of apprentices across the UK, and highlighting the positive impact they make to communities, businesses and the wider economy.
Centred around the theme of ‘Skills for life’, the week brings together everyone passionate about apprenticeships and skills to recognise the value, opportunity and long-term benefits they offer.
Apprenticeships provide exciting and flexible career pathways, combining paid employment with high-quality training. They are open to people at all stages of life, whether starting out, upskilling or changing career, and enable individuals to gain valuable experience while working towards nationally recognised qualifications. Through this route, apprentices develop technical competence, professional behaviours and ethical awareness, foundations that support progression to professional registration and lifelong learning through Continuing Professional Development (CPD).
Many professionally registered engineers who have started as apprentices now give back to the profession by mentoring, training and assessing others.
Below, we share some personal journeys, highlighting the breadth of opportunities apprenticeships can unlock and how they lead to established professional careers.
Frida Akin-Taylor EngTech TMIET started her engineering career as a Higher Manufacturing Engineering Apprentice at Rolls-Royce. Following the successful completion of her apprenticeship, she was offered a full-time job as Manufacturing Engineer Component Owner and remained with the company for almost a decade.
In 2019, she co-founded Edu-Cater, a non-profit social enterprise that aims to bridge the gap between science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) education and industry. As CEO, she supports a globally inclusive STEM ecosystem, mentoring young people and working with universities in the UK and in Africa. Frida has received numerous accolades for her work, including the IMechE Alastair Graham-Bryce Award 2022, Everywoman and We are the City Rising Star Awards. She is a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion, serves as a STEM ambassador and is actively involved in the Black Women in Tech groups.
Keith Brian McGrath CEng MInstMC is an Electrical and Instrumentation Consultant at Premtech Limited, a consultancy operating in the oil and gas industry. He left school at 16 to take up an apprenticeship at Marconi Rada, unsure of his long-term career direction.
After achieving Incorporated Engineer (IEng) status, he later progressed to become a Chartered Engineer. Keith now volunteers within the profession, including chairing an IGEM panel, contributing to the review and development of British and international standards, and taking part in special interest groups with the Institute of Measurement and Control.
Based in Nigeria, EUR ING Ikediashi Ambrose Umuodum IEng MIMechE MCMI MEI is a Technical Services and Environmental Management Lead at EMASTANEL Industrial Limited. His early fascination with cars and trucks led to him into engineering, and when offered an apprenticeship in 1988, he accepted without hesitation.
He strongly believes that there are many routes to a rewarding career in engineering and that apprenticeships offer opportunities for everyone, from technician roles to degree-level pathways. Having progressed through the apprenticeship route himself, he now supports the profession as a peer reviewer for Registered Environment Technician (REnvTech) and Registered Environmental Practitioner (REnvP) apprenticeship mapping with the Society for the Environment, is an international peer reviewer for the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) and mentors engineering colleagues.
These case studies demonstrate that an apprenticeship offers a valuable career pathway to becoming an engineering professional. They enable individuals to develop essential skills while building successful and fulfilling careers.
National Apprenticeship Week 2026 is a chance for the engineering community to showcase success, share learning and inspire the next generation. By investing in skills for life, the profession is investing in its future.
Further information, resources and opportunities to get involved can be found on the National Apprenticeship Week website.
