National Apprenticeship Week 2022

The week long celebration brought together businesses and individuals across the country to shine a light on the positive impact apprenticeships have on the wider economy.  To celebrate our own apprentices and the value of collaborative degrees, we invited our cohort to share their experiences of undergoing an apprenticeship degree at Ryder, keeping in mind the week’s theme ‘Build the Future’.

Arina Smolina, Trainee Architect, London

Working on live projects while developing academic research under the apprenticeship programme was a great opportunity for me to enter the built environment.  I enjoy sharing knowledge with my team and take a great deal away from Ryder’s experiences and lessons learnt.  The apprenticeship has taught me critical thinking and how to be ambitious at the same time.  I believe an apprenticeship provides a great route into the industry and allows you to grow skills for a resilient future.

Ben Bampilis, Trainee Architect, London

I believe the apprenticeship programme is the future of architectural education as it combines the practicalities of real work with the theoretical approach of academia.  The support so far from Ryder has been outstanding and I am looking forward to spending the next few years learning and developing my skills and knowledge on my path to qualification.  It is not for the faint hearted, but the rewards are immense, and I believe that the architects who qualify through an apprenticeship are likely to be well grounded, experienced and confident to face the next steps in their career.

Emma McCutcheon, Trainee Architect, Newcastle

Ryder has been invaluable throughout my education thus far.   When I started my career in architecture, I initially chose to go down the route of interiors, partly due to the flexibility it would allow me to have.  Committing to seven years of academic study can be daunting to many, but a three year course, providing a qualification and the opportunity for further studies further down the line, is a reassuring avenue to take.

As it turns out, this is exactly the route I chose.  It has allowed me to remain within a vibrant and fast paced workplace whilst I complete my studies.   During my Part 1 apprenticeship, I was able to work full time across four days of the week and complete the top up within one semester.  Fast forward 12 months, through the architectural degree apprenticeship programme offered at Ryder, I have gained experience as a design assistant within the interiors team and worked on multiple architectural projects.  Today, I am happily working as a trainee architect, progressing towards gaining my Part 2 and 3 qualifications.

My colleagues at Ryder have been and continue to be a huge support.  The team around me do not hesitate to take time out of their day to help me with questions about technical aspects, design ideas, and precedents, even going as far as helping with the initial ideas for my dissertation.  This, I find, is what makes Ryder so unique and a world class organisation to gain a professional qualification with.  I am excited to achieve my chartership and look forward to passing on my own Ryder words of advice and wisdom to the next cohort of apprentices.

Ryder is passionate about offering alternative routes to qualification and attracting a diverse range of people into the built environment.  As an apprentice, you can enjoy a well rounded experience, tailored towards creating a route that supports you to achieve chartered status in your chosen discipline.  For further information about the opportunities at Ryder, head to our JoinUs page or download our apprenticeships brochure.