Simulations – creating a model or replica of how something works in real life – are great tools for teaching people. The NHS uses them to help people learn, rehearse, and perfect patient care.
There are different forms of simulations, including IT equipment, audio visual equipment, models of the human body, and other mechanical and electronic devices. You could be the technician who makes these simulations as real as possible, helping train NHS staff to carry out healthcare tasks to the required standard.
NHS simulation departments are busy environments that will present you with interesting challenges.
Initially you’ll support senior colleagues then, with experience, will have the opportunity to become a supervisor yourself.
There’s no perfect career path or ideal way into your dream job.
But if you’re interested in education and training options that could be relevant to this role, you might want to consider:
Options available after GCSEs:
Schools and colleges each have their own career guidance plan and can provide detailed information, advice, and guidance on options and next steps.
You’ll work in a team with a range of specialists, developing a mix of skills for the different simulations you produce. Some will be simple simulations while others will be highly complex, requiring great thought and ingenuity to determine how you can best mirror reality.
There are many industries that use climate control systems to maintain a steady or cool temperature, either to protect their goods or services, or to create comfortable leisure and work environments. Industries include food production, product distribution, retail storage, hospitality, transport, office spaces, manufacturing, IT/data centres, and medical healthcare services.
A refrigeration technician is involved in the design, installation, maintenance and repair of refrigeration, air conditioning, and heat pump systems. This involves understanding technology and mechanics and making sure refrigeration systems are as efficient as possible. You could be the technician who helps to preserve food and products, keeps people comfortable, and who installs new energy-efficient technology.
You could join a small team focused on serving local businesses. Or you might prefer being part of a large UK firm involved in big installations and maintenance contracts all over the UK.
Further on in your career, you could progress to designing cooling systems, decide to set up your own business, or move into building services engineering or plumbing.
There’s no perfect career path or ideal way into your dream job.
But if you’re interested in education and training options that could be relevant to this role, you might want to consider:
Options available after GCSEs:
Schools and colleges each have their own career guidance plan and can provide detailed information, advice, and guidance on options and next steps.
Changes to environmental laws and new innovative technology mean refrigeration challenges and systems are always evolving. Refrigeration is estimated to be responsible for an estimated 10% of UK greenhouse gas emissions and 16% of electricity use, so there is a continuous emphasis on making systems more efficient. Refrigeration technicians have important responsibilities for minimising the environmental impact of cooling systems.
This role can also be known by some other job titles including:
Refrigeration Engineer
Air Conditioning Technician
Service Technician
Maintenance Technician
Commissioning Engineer
Prosthetics is the clinical term used for making artificial limbs (prostheses). Orthotics is the clinical term used for making a range of devices (orthoses), everything from technical footwear to back braces.
Working in these areas involves developing an understanding of the different conditions people have that can lead to them needing an artificial limb or device.
Specifications are provided to make sure each item fits comfortably and functions properly, enabling people to do what they want to do. You could be the technician who gives children and adults freedom of movement and their independence again.
You could work in a team in the NHS, supporting clinicians and meeting with patients. You could also develop your skills working for a private manufacturing company.
Some companies work with patients directly, developing specialised devices. With experience you could lead a design team, working for the NHS or in a consultancy.
There’s no perfect career path or ideal way into your dream job.
But if you’re interested in education and training options that could be relevant to this role, you might want to consider:
Options available after GCSEs:
Schools and colleges each have their own career guidance plan and can provide detailed information, advice, and guidance on options and next steps.
You’ll be making things that will have a huge impact on people’s lives and could even produce limbs or devices that enable Paralympians to compete. You’ll meet with patients to help with the fitting of their device and will often be able to see the difference you make almost immediately. You could be changing the lives of young children born with missing limbs, people who have been in accidents or suffered injuries serving in the military, or those that have clinical conditions that restrict them.
Even though communications are increasingly digital, there are still many different items that are printed. That’s everything from leaflets, birthday cards and wrapping paper, to product packaging, billboard advertising and money.
The printing industry is technologically advanced and as well as printing designs and colours, some printers also produce textures and even print different smells. You could be the technician who helps to bring creative design ideas to life, with accurate printing that achieves exactly the right standard on every printed item.
You can choose to focus on one of three areas in the early stages of your printing career, making sure everything is technically correct either before you print, as you print, or afterwards.
With experience, you could become a production manager or take on a sales and management role in a major UK or worldwide printer. Alternatively you could become involved in print innovation, helping to push the industry forward and solve new creative challenges.
There’s no perfect career path or ideal way into your dream job.
But if you’re interested in education and training options that could be relevant to this role, you might want to consider:
Options available after GCSEs:
Schools and colleges each have their own career guidance plan and can provide detailed information, advice, and guidance on options and next steps.
You’ll see the items you help to print all around you, in marketing and advertising campaigns, in shops, or even – if you print money – in people’s wallets! You’ll get to know different print materials and inks, how to programme large printing presses and how digital design files become a printed item.
This role can also be known by some other job titles including:
Pre-Press Technician
Press Technician
Post-Press Technician
Every household across Britain is served by safe running water and most have a central heating system to warm water and heat rooms during the colder months. We depend on our plumbing and heating systems to make life comfortable and easier and all sorts of problems are created when systems break down.
Energy and water efficiency have also become extremely important in protecting our planet’s resources and keeping living costs down. Technicians install, service, and maintain plumbing and heating systems and play a big role in making sure water and energy use is controlled. You could be the technician who helps to ensure people have the water and heat they need and are able to use it efficiently.
With experience you have the option to set up your own business and become an independent plumbing and heating technician. Or alternatively you could join a big national team that serves a large number of domestic properties. There you could progress through local, regional, and director level roles.
You could also decide you want to specialise in a particular area of plumbing or heating. This could mean you transfer to commercial work, where teams often specialise in different sectors such as leisure or hospitality.
There’s no perfect career path or ideal way into your dream job.
But if you’re interested in education and training options that could be relevant to this role, you might want to consider:
Options available after GCSEs:
Schools and colleges each have their own career guidance plan and can provide detailed information, advice, and guidance on options and next steps.
In this role you can work inside and outside of domestic properties or you could be part of a team that installs the latest energy efficient systems into new houses. You will work on the piping, drainage and water systems that serve homes, as well as appliances and equipment. You will also be at the forefront of installing new and exciting environmental technologies, like heat pumps, solar thermal systems, biomass boilers and water recycling systems.
This role can also be known by some other job titles including:
Plumber
Domestic Heating Engineer
Domestic Heating Installer
Plumbing and Domestic Heating Installer
Plumbing and Domestic Heating Engineer
Most of us will wear glasses at some point in our life, to help us see things close up, at a distance, or both. Everyone has different needs. High tech calibrated machines and different lens coatings and finishings are used to provide people with the right prescription lenses in the right frame types and styles.
Ensuring glasses are made in exactly the right way for each individual is essential to avoid eye damage and enhance people’s sight as needed. You could be the technician who enables people to see clearly and do things safely, so they can get on and enjoy their life.
As new optical technology develops, you will expand your knowledge of lenses and tints that can support people’s sight and eye health.
Your career could progress to managing a specialist team within a manufacturing environment or you could become the manager of an optical lab.
There’s no perfect career path or ideal way into your dream job.
But if you’re interested in education and training options that could be relevant to this role, you might want to consider:
Options available after GCSEs:
Schools and colleges each have their own career guidance plan and can provide detailed information, advice, and guidance on options and next steps.
You will learn how to use precision measuring instruments and tools, as well as specialist equipment for tinting, coating, and polishing lenses. Your skills will be required by large manufacturers and high street brands, as well as by small glazing shops who supply other glass makers with their services.
As we learn more about the impact of vehicle emissions on the environment, more people are choosing to buy electric cars. Businesses are also starting to make the transition, by making sure their fleets of vans are either hybrid or pure electric. In the UK, from 2030, no new petrol or diesel cars can be sold.
With many more electric vehicles coming onto the roads, electric vehicle technicians are in demand. They work on the inspection, maintenance and repair of electric vehicles to ensure they are safe to drive. You could be the technician who specialises in electric vehicles, helping more people to understand them and minimising the impact of vehicles on our environment.
You could start your career in an independent garage or a manufacturer’s dealership, and as you develop your technical skills progress towards leading a team.
You might decide to set up your own garage or work for a manufacturer where you can get closer to where new electric vehicles are made.
There’s no perfect career path or ideal way into your dream job.
But if you’re interested in education and training options that could be relevant to this role, you might want to consider:
Options available after GCSEs:
Schools and colleges each have their own career guidance plan and can provide detailed information, advice, and guidance on options and next steps.
The range of electric vehicles is expanding as new battery technology develops and automotive brands create new models of electric vans and cars. You could work at the forefront of these exciting developments, getting involved in the maintenance of vehicles in a garage or at a car dealership for a specific brand.
There are many industries, including the aerospace, aviation, automotive, maritime and defence sectors, that use highly complex machinery to make and manoeuvre their products. The leisure industry uses machinery such as Ferris wheels and rollercoasters to provide entertainment.
All these machines need to be built and maintained, which involves assembling multiple devices and components and checking that all the mechanical systems are in reliable and safe working order. You could be the technician who puts all the machine parts together to help various industries perform at their best.
As your training and career develop, you could decide to specialise in a specific area of mechanical engineering, for example fitting and turning, pipefitting, or maintenance fitting.
You can also progress to becoming a senior fitter with responsibility for higher level challenges, as well as supporting and training other team members. Another option is becoming a consultant and getting involved in the design of machines.
There’s no perfect career path or ideal way into your dream job.
But if you’re interested in education and training options that could be relevant to this role, you might want to consider:
Options available after GCSEs:
Schools and colleges each have their own career guidance plan and can provide detailed information, advice, and guidance on options and next steps.
You will work with detailed drawings that contain intricate measurements and specifications you need to follow. To put parts together you’ll use a range of tools and techniques including thermal healing, welding, cutting equipment and drilling machines. When machines break down, you’ll be the problem solver people call on to make sure they are quickly working again.
This role can also be known by some other job titles including:
Engineering Technician
Aerospace Technician
Aviation Engineer
Maritime Engineer
Machinist
Mechatronics Engineer
Mechanical Fitter
Toolmaker
Lifts, escalators and moving walkways come in a wide variety of types and sizes. They are used for moving both goods and people and support journeys across buildings, as well as up and down them. You’ll find them in warehouses, high rise flats and offices, hotels, airports, railway stations, and within people’s homes.
While most of us use lifts and escalators, some people really rely on them because they’re unable to walk or take the stairs. In very tall buildings broken lifts or escalators could mean the building needs to shut down. You could be the technician who services and repairs lifts and escalators, enabling reliable, safe and fast journeys and ensuring everyone can get to where they need to go.
Your level of engineering knowledge will grow and grow, enabling you to specialise in different kinds of lifts, escalators and moving walkways and potentially be involved in some very high profile buildings.
With experience, you could progress to leading a team and training others, or become involved in safety and quality inspections.
There’s no perfect career path or ideal way into your dream job.
But if you’re interested in education and training options that could be relevant to this role, you might want to consider:
Options available after GCSEs:
Schools and colleges each have their own career guidance plan and can provide detailed information, advice, and guidance on options and next steps.
The mechanical, electric and hydraulic engineering used in lifts and escalators is continuously evolving, so you will learn how to repair and maintain older equipment and discover new, high-tech solutions. You might get involved in replacing a whole system, taking out old mechanical, hydraulic, electric and electronic parts, and leaving an up to date, modern machine in its place.
This role can also be known by some other job titles including:
Lift and Escalator Electromechanic
Outdoor sectors including agriculture, horticulture, forestry and outdoor power use a diverse range of tools and machinery – everything from saws to combine harvesters, rakes to generators. These all need to be serviced and maintained.
Equipment is often specialised to an industry and fixing it requires in depth understanding of how it will be used and in which conditions, to make sure it is capable of doing the work it needs to do. You could be a technician who supports an outdoor sector, by making sure outdoor workers have the tools they need to succeed.
You will probably specialise in one outdoor sector and could become an expert in one area of machinery, for example milking machines or tractors.
The increased focus on agricultural technology – or Agri-Tech – as well as sustainability and net carbon neutral targets, could mean you get involved in product innovation. You could help to create modern agriculture that minimises negative impacts on the environment.
There’s no perfect career path or ideal way into your dream job.
But if you’re interested in education and training options that could be relevant to this role, you might want to consider:
Options available after GCSEs:
Schools and colleges each have their own career guidance plan and can provide detailed information, advice, and guidance on options and next steps.
You will need to understand how machines interface with biological systems and what’s involved in an environment, including climate, soil, plants and animals. Each outdoor sector presents different challenges and machinery is becoming more technologically advanced to achieve different goals.