Sabrina Irfan describes how she splits studying and work, how she’s getting a head start in her career and why degree apprenticeships benefit local businesses.

As far as Sabrina Irfan was aware, apprenticeships were a purely vocational route.

Great for someone else. But not something she considered as an option for herself.

Little did Sabrina realise that she’d soon become an apprentice herself, embarking on a journey that would put her on the sites of some of the biggest civil engineering projects in the whole country.

“I came to the UK from Sri Lanka when I was 17,” Sabrina explained.

“The difference in infrastructure between the two countries hit me right away.

“I started thinking about how better infrastructure could be delivered across the whole world; in some parts of Sri Lanka, a bridge can make a big difference to a child’s journey to school by providing a safer option.”

But while Sabrina’s interest had been piqued, and despite the fact she had grown up with a grandfather who ran a small construction company, a career in civil engineering was still far from certain.

 Credibility and confidence

It was only during her gap year she heard of degree apprenticeships – a route she never knew existed.

“I had good A-Levels and knew I wanted to go to a Russell Group university because of the great employability of their graduates,” Sabrina said.

“So when I saw that Warwick – a top-six uni in the latest Guardian rankings – was offering a degree apprenticeship in Civil and Infrastructure Engineering, I was quite surprised.

“Here was a prestigious university not only offering a qualification that appealed to me, but also a path directly into industry with paid work.

“It totally changed my view of apprenticeships and gave me the feeling that if Warwick was doing them, they must be credible.”

Earning debt-free

Degree apprenticeships combine work and study, with Sabrina spending 80% of her time in paid work and 20% studying towards a bachelor’s degree.

Crucially, the apprentice doesn’t have to worry about student debt.

Tuition fees are paid through the Apprenticeship Levy; companies with a payroll of more than £3m contribute 0.5% of their annual pay bill to the levy and can then use these funds to pay for apprenticeship training.

Sabrina, who chairs her course’s Student-Staff Liaison Committee, is completing her five-year degree apprenticeship with Coventry-based geotechnical engineering specialist Keller.

“I was one of two female apprentices in the first cohort,” Sabrina said.

“Having studied at an all-girls school in Sri Lanka and then moving to the UK, I was a little bit nervous about being a woman in civil engineering.

“But Warwick has such a good, supportive network of lecturers and staff, so that helped me feel confident that I would be absolutely fine.”

Hard hats and head starts

A degree apprenticeship is by no means easy, though.

“It’s more challenging than full-time education”, Sabrina explained. “You get some fantastic opportunities, but students in other courses do have more free time.”

Sabrina completes one week a month at university, studying a specific module in that time before returning to life as an apprentice for the remainder.

Her roles at Keller have been varied, most recently seeing her work in shift patterns on sites such as London’s Euston railway station as part of the High Speed 2 construction project.

A typical working day may last around 12 hours, and involve Sabrina donning PPE, writing work package plans and completing technical reports.

“Working for Keller has given my career a head start,” Sabrina said.

“I’ve had experiences I would never have been able to in full-time education.

“When I look back at the person I was four years ago, I have grown so much. I’m more confident, I’ve learned so many new skills and my time management has improved dramatically.”

Benefiting local business

The degree apprenticeship has been good for her employer, too.

“Keller is getting skilled young people who are learning about the latest developments in civil engineering through our studies,” Sabrina said.

“We bring knowledge of the technologies we’ve used at university into the company, and they can mould us into their way of working as well.”

Next summer, Sabrina will complete her end-point assessment with the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) and graduate from the University of Warwick, ultimately becoming a professionally qualified engineer.

But there have already been plenty of highlights – like this February, when she was awarded a prestigious ICE QUEST Technician Scholarship worth £1,000.

“It’s well recognised in the industry and highly competitive, so it’s brilliant for my development,” Sabrina explained.

“I’m ambitious and I’ve now got a competitive advantage, so I’d be interested in taking my knowledge to other places and perhaps working in the developing world one day.”

Is this a digger which I see before me?

Sabrina is grateful to Warwick for empowering her development, though she remembers she was unaware of the area before she arrived.

“The uni has made me a confident woman and given me all the tools I need to face my future,” she said.

“I’ve discovered great places like FarGo Village, and I’ve loved the beautiful campus and how welcoming it is to the wider community.

“I’d obviously heard of the university but I didn’t know a great deal about Coventry – I just knew about Warwickshire because of Shakespeare!”

And so to the question other young people may be asking: to be a degree apprentice, or not to be a degree apprentice?

“I would definitely say look into it,” Sabrina said.

“There are pros and cons because it’s quite intensive, you work a lot and your time will be more limited than a typical student’s.

“But I’ve loved the challenge – it helps you find your best self.”

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