Bridgwater & Taunton College’s (BTC) Nuclear Engineering department have been recognised as finalists at the Energy & Utility Skills Awards 2024, in the ‘Skills Collaboration Initiative of the Year Award’ category.

This was due to their unique project-based collaborative curriculum delivery in partnership with EDF and the Yeovilton Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm Museum.

In addition to this incredible achievement, Nuclear Engineering Apprentice “AJ” has been recognised as a finalist in the ‘Power Industry Apprentice of the Year Award’ category of the Energy & Utility Skills Awards 2024.

The event brought together industry leaders, experts, and key stakeholders to attend the conference followed by evening dinner and an awards ceremony to celebrate the outstanding individuals and organisations that are shaping the future of the industry.

A partnership between EDF, BTC and the Fleet Air Arm Museum developed a curriculum that challenges apprentices to apply their knowledge, skills & behaviours to unfamiliar scenarios in order to further understand and deepen their knowledge.

This was achieved in part by students participating in an Aircraft Maintenance Programme, which is holistically blended with the Condition Monitoring Maintenance unit on their BTEC Diploma.

Students attended the museum for a total of six days across three weeks, in which time they identified the aircraft maintenance needs for various scenarios developed by museum staff.

Apprentices were divided into groups, with each being allocated a different component to research, and were then required to compose a presentation on their allocated component. This ranged from avionics to weapons systems.

All their efforts culminated on week four when they executed their presentations on a stage located beneath Concorde in the museum’s main hangar.

The audience consisted of fellow apprentices, a large group of EDF personnel, college staff, and various members of the museum workforce.