Building skills for life with Stagecoach apprenticeships

Connecting young people to education whilst building new skills is an important pillar of Stagecoach, the UK’s largest bus and coach operator. After relaunching its Graduate Scheme for 2024, the operator examples why investing in its employees is so valuable for this year's National Apprenticeship Week.  

Stagecoach offers a flagship driver apprenticeship scheme and an industry-leading engineering apprenticeship programme. Employees can obtain a Level 2 Passenger Transport apprenticeship for bus drivers (12-14 months long), a Level 3 Bus and Coach Engineering Technician Standard apprenticeship in Mechanical-electrical, or, newly offered for 2024, Body and Coach Building.  

This earned the operator recognition as an Apprenticeships Top 50 employer, 2023 and ranked 42nd in the national league tables identifying England’s Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers for 2023.  

Lee Jones, Technician and former Stagecoach apprentice, said; “I started the Mech/Elec level 3 trade up apprenticeship in 2018 as one of the first three trade ups in South Wales. The apprenticeship has given me the knowledge and skills to not only understand how things work, but to understand why things stop working, problems and causes, and the ability to repair them. 

“I now have this ability from the support I had received during the apprenticeship, from work colleagues, mentors, chargehands, workshop foreman and fleet engineers who have all taken me under their wing and made me into the technician I am today. I am looking forward to meeting future apprentices so I can help train and develop them in the way so many have helped me.” 

In 2023, Stagecoach was also one of the 120 employers who met the 5% Clubs Gold Standard and was awarded Gold Membership status for 2023/24, for a second consecutive year. The award recognises the operators continued significant contribution to the development of employees through “earn & learn” schemes such as Apprenticeships and Graduate Schemes.   

Stagecoach also offers a two-year graduate training programme which recently launched for its 2024. Applicants will have a valuable opportunity to develop their skills in stakeholder management, commercial innovation, people leadership, operational performance and change management. With additional access to their own support network, graduates are assisted by a buddy and mentor in the company and access to professional development such as an ILM level 3 qualification.    

Committed to training and development, Stagecoach is driving forward several initiatives to build an inclusive workforce that represents all the customers and communities it serves. In 2021, the operator launched a Sustainability Strategy which detailed its objective of having 40% females in leadership roles by 2026 and 25% of its workforce from ethnic minorities, alongside commitment to more work placements for 16–24-year-olds. 

Joanne Smith, People Director for Stagecoach, added: “Our people are fundamental to Stagecoach’s success, so developing our diverse, high-quality teams and nurturing the next generation of talent is integral.  

“An apprenticeship with Stagecoach is an opportunity to learn the breadth of the transport sector with the guidance of industry leading mentors. Developing these invaluable opportunities are a vital step to help us serve local communities while ensuring our employees are equipped with the best tools to achieve.”