Councillor Castle visited the College to present awards to the third cohort of engineering apprentices who were sponsored jointly by Essex County Council and the European Social Fund. His visit to Harlow also included a trip to Applied Scintillated Technologies and Smiths (Harlow) where he met apprentices from previous cohorts who are now on the Advanced Apprenticeship programme.

Councillor Castle said of his visit: “I look after education, training and skills for Essex County Council, including apprenticeships. I’m really here to celebrate the hard work all the students have put in - you are the trailblazers in your chosen apprenticeships. I hope you’ve enjoyed your work, both here and in the workplace. There is a great manufacturing base in Harlow and I hope you all have good opportunities to go on and be successful engineers.”

Nathan Simons was awarded ‘Apprentice of the Year’ who is now set to begin the next stage of his apprenticeship with Smiths (Harlow) where he will be making aircraft wings and jet engine cases.