Service engineering

Paul is doing an Apprenticeship in Service Engineering at Bicton College, initially a two year course for an NVQ 2 qualification, students can carry on to NVQ 3 and 4.

Paul ‘earns as he learns,’ working full time for a friendly, family run company whilst attending college for one week every three months. This allows him to use the skills and knowledge he gains at college in the workplace. Apprenticeships provide the opportunity to gain qualifications and real life experience, with Paul hoping to one day be self employed. Paul enjoys engineering because of the satisfaction of fixing machinery as well as the ability to work outside and get dirty!

This clip shows Paul learning to fix machinery and using hydralics to lift heavy equipment.

With thanks to: Bicton College

Curriculum topics:

• Machines
• Pressure and force

Also in this film:

• The block-release model for training
• Earning while learning
• The satisfaction of making things work

Suggested practicals:

Levers and pulleys multiply force but not energy
You can’t get ‘something for nothing’ out of a machine. A machine may increase the force that you apply and transfer it to another point, but this doesn’t mean that energy is being created out of nowhere.

Pressure and force
Paul uses a hydraulic crane to lift a heavy vehicle transmission to a point where he can safely work on it. Find out about the principles of hydraulic transmission of pressure.