A Sixth-form pupil at Rydal Penrhos School has been offered a place on the prestigious Higher Apprenticeship 
Scheme at Jaguar Land Rover.
Oliver Sharples found out last week that he had been accepted on to the Apprenticeship scheme after a rigorous selection process that started out with 25,000 applications for just 60 places.
Oliver is taking A-levels in Physics, Maths and Geography at Rydal Penrhos, and is also a member of the Welsh Rugby Union RGC Academy at the school.
He has a long-running love of cars and, at home, is currently in the process of restoring a Mini.
He has also had a weekend and holiday job as an assistant mechanic at a local haulage company to learn practical skills.
All of which came in very handy when one of the tasks at the Jaguar Land Rover interview was to wire up a car wing mirror!
The initial selection process required Oliver to complete competency forms and take online aptitude tests in English, Maths and statistical analysis.
He was one of only 250 applicants who made it through to the interview stage, where he had several one-to-one interviews as well as a group exercise that included role-play and task-planning.
Interview practice at school, and the practical work done in physics helped Oliver to cope with the demands of the process.
The Higher Apprenticeship is a six-year scheme that allows Oliver to take an NVQ2 in Performing Engineering Operations, NVQ3 in Business Improvement Techniques, and an NVQ4 in Engineering Leadership at Warwick College, before spending two years at Warwick University studying for an Engineering degree.
Throughout the process, Oliver will be applying the skills he is learning in the Jaguar Land Rover plants near Warwick. Rydal Penrhos School is hugely proud of Oliver’s achievement and wishes him all the best for his A-levels and for his future at Jaguar Land Rover.