About Oxfordshire Advanced Skills (OAS) Training Centre
Oxfordshire Advanced Skills (OAS) offers high-quality training for apprentice engineers and technicians at technology businesses in the Thames Valley.
OAS offers training for the Level 3 Engineering Technician Apprenticeship Standard. This qualification has been designed by employers to provide the technical and practical knowledge required to work in the engineering sector. It opens up a world of opportunities in this exciting career, including many in Oxfordshire – one of the UK’s hi-tech hotspots.
The qualification, delivered over 30 months on a block release basis to provide flexibility for the learner and employer, will provide learners with extensive knowledge and the specialist skills required to fulfil roles within engineering with a higher level of responsibility.
Located at Culham Science Centre near Abingdon, OAS is a partnership between the UK Atomic Energy Authority and the Science & Technology Facilities Council. The two organisations have a history of apprentice training in science and engineering stretching back more than 70 years.
Oxfordshire Advanced Skills (OAS) opened in a newly-fitted building at Culham in September 2016. The first intake of apprentices received training on a range of the latest equipment by then training provider, JTL. Apprentices received training on a suite of high-quality equipment used in the hi-tech industrial sector.
The purpose-built OAS Training Centre opened in September 2019, run by training provider MTC Apprenticeships, has the capacity to train up to 350 apprentices per year. The 3,800 square metre building contains labs and workshops specifically designed for training in engineering disciplines, including mechanical, electrical, robotics and PLCs, vacuum, cryogenics, fluids and control & instrumentation.
OAS worked closely with local businesses to ensure the new building’s capabilities met their needs. And the apprenticeship helps learners develop the skills needed for delivering the technologies of the future in the high-value manufacturing sector.
