RAC rolls out mechanic apprenticeships nationwide in industry first

The RAC is rolling out its mechanic apprenticeship scheme across England for the first time in a new partnership with Humberside Motor Trades Group Training Association (Motor Trades GTA) College.

In addition to schemes in the south and the west country, students in the north of England can now apply for the ‘RAC Academy’ at the Hull-based college, where they will be supported through their Level 2 Vehicle Maintenance and Repair apprenticeship with real roadside experience.

The RAC will support students at Motor Trades GTA through a professional application process, interviewing candidates for the positions and conducting on-the-job training.

In turn, students are allocated dedicated mentors and managers from the RAC to oversee the programme, ensuring they gain the skills and support required to become fully fledged RAC patrols or RAC Mobile Mechanics at the UK’s longest established breakdown provider. The course, which runs for 30 months, consists of three weeks a month working with a qualified RAC patrol at roadside and one week a month in the classroom.

While RAC patrols are trained to fix and recover vehicles at the roadside, RAC Mobile Mechanics service and repair cars at the customer’s home or workplace. Since its launch in 2015, the RAC Academy has supported more than 150 apprentices to become patrols and Mobile Mechanics through its series of college partnerships.

RAC Academy manager Tony Cullum said: “Through our new partnership with Motor Trades GTA College, we can now offer budding mechanics all over England the keys to an RAC career. Whether rescuing customers at the roadside as a patrol, or servicing and repairing customers’ cars at their home or work as an RAC Mobile Mechanic, our apprentices have choice over their futures and the support to make a success of it.

“Motor Trades GTA joins our other partner colleges in Bristol and London, marking the start of our national apprenticeship network. We chose the college for its vast experience in training motor trade apprentices, helping us plug the industry skills gap and make our academy even stronger and more specialised.” 

Rachael Owen, business and marketing lead at Motor Trades GTA College, said: "We are thrilled to be partnering with the prestigious RAC Academy to deliver these amazing apprenticeship programmes. We feel the opportunity to train and educate new roadside apprentices across the North of England will be a positive step in expanding our current apprenticeship provision. 

“I know many young people will be excited to be involved in the initiative and will be looking forward to starting a new motor industry career. We are excited to start this new partnership and cannot wait to recruit our first apprentices."  

The RAC Academy has had a total of 11 different apprentice groups at Motor Trades GTA, North London Garages and S&B Automotive Academy, Bristol.