When Mike Herrington joined East Durham College at its Durham-based Houghall Campus in 2022 to help it launch a land based engineering course for Level 2 and 3 apprentices, he really was starting from scratch, with no students and no dedicated workshop. Two short years later the provision is proving to be a great success and is growing rapidly both in terms of the number of students it attracts and in reputation.
At the core of this success is a principle embedded in the college's ethos: to prepare students to go into the industry of their choice ready and able to perform the job they've trained for.
Mike is quick to add that it's the support the course has received that's made this growth possible – from the college itself which has ploughed more than £1m into improving the workshop and buying equipment and machinery, as well as from machinery dealerships and the students themselves, who come from as far away as Cumbria and Nottingham for what is so much more than book-based learning to complement their hands-on work with employers.
The apprenticeship programme – which starts in October and runs for 18 months – aims to give students a real-life insight into what their future career holds as well as to teach them life skills and build their confidence.
In reality this means that alongside theory work, students learn from engineers from companies including Russell's and Lloyd's (two of the programme's biggest supporters on the agricultural side) and Paxtons, who teach them new skills and bring along the latest machinery for them to learn from. Those specialising in agricultural engineering also work closely with the college's farm to service and repair the machinery it uses, in a real-time situation, which mirrors those they'll encounter in their working life.
Alongside this, students are also currently carrying out a nuts and bolts refurbishment and renovation project on two old tractors, one of which will be a memorial for a past student. Not only is this another novel approach to hands-on learning, but when finished the tractors will also be a source of pride for both the students who have worked on them and the college, when it takes them to shows.
East Durham College's agriculture and land based engineering course is suited to a number of career paths, including becoming a dealership service or grounds care mechanic, a farm or service engineer, a diagnostic technician or a land based engineer in sectors including forestry, agriculture and horticulture.
As a centre of excellence in agricultural engineering, the Houghall campus' specialist engineering workshops are fully equipped with a wide range of maintenance equipment including diagnostic and testing systems alongside welding facilities, and machinery management software, while the courses are taught by passionate lecturers whose aim it is to share their wealth of experience.
Students at Houghall also enjoy talks from industry experts, educational trips, enrichment activities, assessor support and specialist career advice. For those who choose to continue studying, their diploma from Houghall could also be the foundation to progress on to study at degree level.
If you would like to join this growing industry, where the high demand for skilled workers worldwide means your job prospects and earning potential are excellent, an apprenticeship at East Durham College is the perfect place to start. For more details, please check out our Land-based Service Engineering Apprenticeships.
