Quality & Compliance Apprentice
WICKSTEED LEISURE LIMITED
Northamptonshire (NN16 8YJ)
Closes in 15 days (Thursday 4 September 2025 at 11:59pm)
Posted on 20 August 2025
Contents
Summary
Wicksteed is the leading manufacturer of outdoor playground equipment in the UK. Wicksteed Leisure Ltd are seeking an apprentice to support its Quality Control and Quality Assurance department. This will primarily involve day-to-day hands-on quality inspections, recording data, reporting faults and implementing improvement actions.
- Wage
-
£15,311.40 for your first year, then could increase depending on your age
National Minimum Wage rate for apprentices
- Training course
- Quality practitioner (level 4)
- Hours
-
Monday to Thursday 7:30am to 4:30pm and 7:30am to 12:30pm Fridays.
39 hours a week
- Start date
-
Tuesday 23 September 2025
- Duration
-
1 year 8 months
- Positions available
-
1
Work
Most of your apprenticeship is spent working. You’ll learn on the job by getting hands-on experience.
What you'll do at work
The apprenticeship with initially be spent checking the quality of manufactured goods. Full on the job training will be provided alongside your tuition.
What you will be doing.
- Assisting in checking the quality of fabricated and machined items against our technical drawings within our engineering and welding departments
- Ensuring that products painted in our powder coating plant are to an acceptable standard
- Confirming that the quality and quantities are correct when goods are received from our suppliers
- Fault-finding and problem-solving quality issues and reporting your findings
- Keeping records of all of your activities and findings
- Once qualified, you will assist with monitoring our compliance with regulatory and ISO accreditations
Where you'll work
Digby Street
Kettering
Northamptonshire
NN16 8YJ
Training
Apprenticeships include time away from working for specialist training. You’ll study to gain professional knowledge and skills.
Training provider
CSR SCIENTIFIC TRAINING LIMITED
Training course
Quality practitioner (level 4)
Understanding apprenticeship levels (opens in new tab)
What you'll learn
Course contents
- Identify, interpret and apply relevant legal, governmental or industry regulations affecting the organisation.
- Communicate using appropriate methods (verbal, written, visual) to influence internal and external stakeholders, using appropriate questioning techniques such as open questions, leading questions.
- Identify, collect and analyse relevant quality data using appropriate tools and techniques such as Pareto analysis, statistical methods and trending analysis.
- Apply methods and tools to improve the quality performance of processes, products and services such as production control plans, standardised work, use of failure modes and effects.
- Identify, analyse and prioritise quality specific risks and opportunities. Support the development, implementation and effectiveness of resulting actions.
- Plan and conduct system, product or process audits.
- Assess the effectiveness of the measurement systems using tool such as Measurement Systems Analysis.
- Identify requirements from technical documents, commercial input or stakeholder statements and converting to definitions that can drive the organisations processes
- Identify gaps in process performance and develop improvement plans to close gaps.
- Apply structured problem solving including identification, definition, measurement, analysis, improvement and control methods and tools.
- Communicate organisational quality strategy to all levels of the organisation.
- Identify who the internal and external stakeholders are and their current and optimal positions (such as hostile, help it work, opposed, uncooperative, indifferent, hesitant, enthusiastic support) required to support quality related activities.
- Identify, interpret and apply relevant legal, governmental or industry regulations affecting the organisation.
- Communicate using appropriate methods (verbal, written, visual) to influence internal and external stakeholders, using appropriate questioning techniques such as open questions, leading questions.
- Identify, collect and analyse relevant quality data using appropriate tools and techniques such as Pareto analysis, statistical methods and trending analysis.
- Apply methods and tools to improve the quality performance of processes, products and services such as production control plans, standardised work, use of failure modes and effects.
- Identify, analyse and prioritise quality specific risks and opportunities. Support the development, implementation and effectiveness of resulting actions.
- Plan and conduct system, product or process audits.
- Assess the effectiveness of the measurement systems using tool such as Measurement Systems Analysis.
- Identify requirements from technical documents, commercial input or stakeholder statements and converting to definitions that can drive the organisations processes
- Identify gaps in process performance and develop improvement plans to close gaps.
- Apply structured problem solving including identification, definition, measurement, analysis, improvement and control methods and tools.
- Communicate organisational quality strategy to all levels of the organisation.
- Identify who the internal and external stakeholders are and their current and optimal positions (such as hostile, help it work, opposed, uncooperative, indifferent, hesitant, enthusiastic support) required to support quality related activities.
Training schedule
You will spend approximately 4 days a week hands on learning on the factory floor and how to complete your tasks, the remaining day will be spent completing your qualification training programme. This will be completed remotely (online) via our training partner.
The total duration of this programme is 20 months, which involves 14 months of ‘on programme’ delivery and then a 6-month end-point assessment period where a continuous improvement project is completed, which forms part of the end-point assessment.
Requirements
Essential qualifications
GCSE in:
- English (grade Grade 4 / C or above)
- Maths (grade Grade 4 / C or above)
- Science (grade Grade 4 / C or above)
Desirable qualifications
A Level in:
BTEC in:
Share if you have other relevant qualifications and industry experience. The apprenticeship can be adjusted to reflect what you already know.
Skills
- Communication skills
- IT skills
- Attention to detail
- Organisation skills
- Problem solving skills
- Administrative skills
- Number skills
- Analytical skills
- Team working
- Initiative
About this employer
Wicksteed is the leading manufacturer of outdoor playground equipment in the UK. We have a longstanding history and heritage within the playground sector, developing trusted relationships with schools, councils, holiday parks and housing developers for more than 100 years.
After this apprenticeship
Opportunity to progress further and possibly develop in to a more senior role.
Ask a question
The contact for this apprenticeship is:
CSR SCIENTIFIC TRAINING LIMITED
recruitment@wicksteed.co.uk
The reference code for this apprenticeship is VAC1000338176.
Apply now
Closes in 15 days (Thursday 4 September 2025 at 11:59pm)
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