Bedford College construction project kickstarts student’s career

A BTEC student at Bedford College, Aleksandra Stepien, has landed her first job with construction company Ashe after she completed a work placement on a multi-million project they were delivering on behalf of The Bedford College Group.

Ashe, who were working on a 15 month, £10.5m decarbonisation and recladding project for Bedford College’s central tower block, approached the College to find out if they had any students that needed work experience.

Aleksandra, who was studying a BTEC Level 3 in Business at Bedford College, jumped at the chance of completing her 360 hours work experience at the same place where she was studying.

Every Tuesday, Aleksandra provided business support to the Ashe team from checking subcontractors’ certificates to uploading important documents into the IT system, filing, scanning, photocopying and organising drawings, all essential elements of the construction process.

Jane Bland, Account Manager at Bedford College commented:

“We are keen to work with companies like Ashe to help us provide work placements which can benefit both the students and the organisation they work with. If there are 30 students in a class, we need 30 appropriate work placements to help them develop their skills and experience. The courses we deliver are developing a pipeline of talented, skilled individuals ready to join the local workforce. Forward thinking companies like Ashe help students learn and understand their industries, and that’s really important to prepare them for their future careers.”

Danny Roberts welcomed her by saying:

“It’s lovely to see young people joining us from  educational establishments that we are helping to improve. It’s even better when they complete their studies and join us as permanent colleagues. Aleks is doing a great job. She’s learning about all the critical details necessary for the construction process and supporting the site team in many ways, such as carrying out induction audits, issuing snagging lists, processing checklists and a variety of other administrative tasks.”

If you would like more information about offering work experience or work placements with The Bedford College Group, please email wex@bedford.ac.uk