Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has welcomed 18 new apprentices – the ‘Class of 2020’ – to the home of Rolls-Royce at Goodwood, West Sussex. Drawn from a wide variety of backgrounds and from across the UK, the new Apprentices are the latest group to join the programme since its launch in 2006.

Drawn from a wide variety of backgrounds and from across the UK, the new Apprentices are the latest group to join the programme since its launch in 2006. In total, more than 150 young people have taken part, spending between two and four years learning high-level practical and technical skills alongside Rolls-Royce specialists, and gaining formal qualifications at local colleges.

The ‘Class of 2020’ includes seven candidates for the Sir Ralph Robins Degree Apprenticeship scheme – a record number. Launched in 2019, this is a four-year apprenticeship leading to a degree from the University of Chichester.

In addition to the Apprenticeship Programme, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars is providing industrial placements, lasting from six to 12 months, for over 50 university students. The company also runs a highly successful Graduate Programme, with new positions made available every year.

Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Chief Executive Officer, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars said: “Welcoming our new apprentices to Goodwood is a real annual highlight. These young people have come through a selection process in which they’ve already shown great potential and promise; it’s tremendously exciting to watch them grow and flourish, and become the bright, capable, talented people that our company – and the country – needs in order to succeed in the future”.

“The Class of 2020 join us in highly unusual circumstances. We are immensely proud that we’ve been able to run our programme at a time when so many companies are curtailing similar activities, and when educational establishments across the UK face huge challenges.

We have made many necessary changes to our business practices in response to the pandemic, but maintaining the Apprenticeship scheme has always been a priority.