A TEENAGER who gave up his holidays to gain work experience impressed bosses so much they have given him a role where he can learn on the job.

Stephen Henry, a student at University Technical Colleges South Durham, secured a competitive degree apprenticeship with Newton Aycliffe-based BTS Facades and Fabrications, which manufactures high-quality facade and rain-screen products.

The Year 13 student joined UTC South Durham in 2016 and achieved excellent GCSE results before continuing to study A-Levels in Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Computer Science.

He has secured a civil engineering degree apprenticeship with BTS and will start in September, splitting his time between BTS and Teesside University.

Speaking of the opportunity, Mr Henry said: “I am excited about starting at BTS and looking forward to the new challenge and what the future holds.”

Dave Precious and Phil Atkinson of BTS said Stephen first came to the firm for work experience in 2016.

"Since then, he has joined us several times during holiday periods and has shown great potential," they said. "When the opportunity arose to offer Stephen an apprenticeship, we were delighted that he accepted.

"With the way the industry is going, in terms of increased use of automated machines, it is imperative that we continue to invest in people to help achieve the long-term goals of the business. We are confident that Stephen will prove to be a valuable member of our expanding team and look forward to working with him for many years to come.”

In 2019, 66 per cent of UTC leavers secured paid higher or advanced level apprenticeships. The national schools’ average is seven per cent.