The Student Loans Company hired all five candidates who took up the first apprenticeship posts in their pre-assessment department, after completing their on-the-job training and studying for their NVQ2 in Business Administration at the same time.
During their training, Ricky Gatenby, Shareena Elliott, Josh Massey, Adam Sanderson and Callum Pounder spent time in the mail handling team, evidence return team and in the data processing teams to get a proper understanding of the complex operation at Lingfield Point.
As a group, they opened over 106,000 mail items, data entered over 2,200 application forms and safely returned almost 41,000 pieces of evidence to their owners.
Chelsea Hurman from the Student Loans Company said: “We’ve been successfully running an apprenticeship scheme at SLC for a number of years, most recently with Darlington College. There is a growing band of apprentices making their way up the career ladder at SLC and are now helping the next generation of apprentices find their feet.”
The Company employs over 1,300 staff in Darlington and has two further intakes of apprentices from Darlington College currently in training, with plans to bring on even more throughout 2018.
Apprentice Shareena Elliot said: “My experience at SLC has provided me with greater knowledge about workplace practices such as time management, punctuality and codes of conduct.
“Working as part of a number of teams within the company has been a very rewarding experience that has given me a invaluable insight that has transformed the way I work for the better.”
