Natalie's Apprenticeship story

Over the past 2 years I have been completing my Level 3 Laboratory Technician Apprenticeship at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology. 

My role as a services technician includes a wide range of tasks such as making agar plates and media, mycoplasma testing, washing glassware, helping in stores with accepting deliveries, and then phoning the relevant group to collect the packages. During my Apprenticeship I also had opportunities to spend time in different areas of the department including the electron microscope facility, flow cytometry facility and one of the labs in my department which is led by Jordan Raff. I feel so privileged to have been given the opportunity to explore these areas in my department as well as doing my day to day role. 

Natalie Davis, Apprentice Laboratory Technician

Finishing my Apprenticeship... 

It feels so strange to be writing about finishing my Apprenticeship, the past 2 years have gone by so quickly! The Apprenticeship that I completed had two separate grades to it, one of which is the BTEC level 3 in Applied Science in which I got a D*D* (distinction *). Then the overall Apprenticeship grade which was from my end point assessment (EPA) . For me this involved a whole day of being assessed which was an observation of me working and carrying out different tasks, a professional discussion and then a case study test to apply my knowledge. At the end of this day I was very happy with how it went and I was very glad when I found out I had passed overall.

How do I feel now I have finished? 

What I am doing now.... 

I am very lucky in the fact I have been able to keep my same job. The wait to find out whether I was keeping my job seemed like a very long time due to the current pandemic situation but I was very relieved and happy when I found out I had my job still. This has been such a positive end to my Apprenticeship and I am very grateful to still be working here. 

Is there any differences to my job now? 

Well the  obvious difference is that I have a different title which is now ‘Teaching and Services Technician’. Another difference is that I am now part of the Athena SWAN committee in my department, representing the professional support staff. Otherwise my job is exactly the same, just with the added bonus of a pay increase. 

4 years ago when I was in the last year of my A Levels and making that decision whether to go to university, I  never would have dreamed of working at Oxford University. Yet here I am those few years later having completed my Apprenticeship and have a full time job - all at a place I never would have imagined working. 

Read Natalie's case study on our website!