Seven apprentices have become the first to graduate from an innovative collaboration between a civil engineering firm and a college. 

Employer Jones Bros Civil Engineering UK and Coleg Cambria have modernised the approach to delivering higher apprenticeships in civil engineering. 

Traditionally, students would be on day release throughout the programme, spending four days of the week on site with the employer, with the fifth day at the college.  

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The apprentices instead alternated between blocks of time at Coleg Cambria, where there is a dedicated room at the Bersham Road campus in Wrexham and working on sites such as the world’s largest offshore wind farm, a £135m bypass, a £32m level crossing scheme, and complex landfill projects. 

And Ruthin-headquartered Jones Bros has seen the first seven of the higher apprentices, who have completed a four-year civil engineering course that started with a Higher National Certificate (HNC) and finished with a Higher National Diploma (HND), graduate. 

The seven civil engineers, who are now working across a host of national projects for Jones Bros, are Gary Salisbury, Gwion Euron Lloyd, Hari Wyn Evans, Chris Hunt, Reece Davies, Sion Gwilym Williams, and Rhys Williams. 

Gary, who lives in Mold, was thrilled to be part of the first intake to qualify from the course. 

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“It’s fantastic to be part of the first group to qualify,” he said. “The way the course was planned out, in terms of blocks of study followed by blocks of onsite work, was ideal. 

“When you were in the classroom there were no distractions from those onsite, you could focus solely on your education for that period." 

Jones Bros training manager, Garmon Hafal, said: “Jones Bros prides itself on providing young people with a chance of employment, learning skills, and recognised industry qualifications. 

“This was the first time the course had been run in its current guise with blocks of learning followed by uninterrupted time onsite, and I am happy to see that it has been a success with seven of the intake qualifying.”