FOUR teenagers who were excluded from mainstream education have beaten off competition from hundreds of applicants to win coveted apprenticeships at Toyota.
The pupils, who all attend Kingsmead Pupil Referral Unit, in Bridge Street, were among 300 applicants to apply for just 36 places on the Toyota Production Apprenticeship Scheme.
Aiden Benjamin, Rehan Hussain, Rohan Sandhu and Baljinder Singh completed a test, a written assessment and underwent a rigorous formal interview to secure the positions.
Their success has been shared by Connar Holden, who attends Kingsmead Special School, in Alvaston, who was also successful in gaining an apprenticeship at the Burnaston site.
Teacher Caron Fellows said: “The annual recruitment is an intensive process and these fantastic five represent 13.8% of Toyota’s 2021 intake. They worked hard; they were professional, articulate and well prepared and the interviewers were impressed with their maturity and exemplary conduct.
Four pupils from the Kingsmead school have been given apprenticeships at Toyota.
“They have come such a long way since joining us at Kingsmead. We have been able to give them the support that they needed and they have genuinely done us all proud.
“This is a life-changing opportunity for the boys and I can see they are walking a little bit taller and a little bit prouder since finding out they had been successful.”
Staff at the school, worked alongside Toyota to support the pupils in their applications, giving up their free time to accompany them to open evenings, providing transport and putting them through their paces with mock interviews.
The boys start their apprenticeship programmes in September and will spend time in various departments, developing the practical skills and theory to ultimately work on the fast-paced Corolla production line.
A spokesman for Toyota said: “Toyota recruits on merit. These young people demonstrated enthusiasm and were immensely engaged throughout the entire recruitment process.
“They were well prepared and performed extremely well on the tests that were set. We’re looking forward to welcoming them on site as from September this year and are convinced that they will soon be enjoying their new roles.”
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