Thursday 29 January 2015

Former Student Now at Lotus

Former student Ben Dew, now a Laminator at Lotus F1 recently paid Bicester a visit to help us tell new students about the college.

Ben has been working for Lotus since 2012, after attending the equivalent of our current two year extended diploma and later securing work at ProDrive. This path has eventually led his career towards Lotus F1, who are looking to remain strong competitors in the sport.

Lotus F1 are aiming to reach the pinnacle of F1 with their new car for 2015 (see here), and as a Laminator Ben will be key to bringing this about.

Wednesday 14 January 2015

Open Evening 21st of January

Bicester Motorsport is hosting an open evening so that potential students can talk with staff and see our faculties here in Bicester.

Visitors are invited to come and see the workshops and enquire about the many possible career paths that we can facilitate with the courses and apprenticeships we offer.

The open evening is to be held from 4 until 7pm on the Wednesday afternoon, and is expected to be a busy event. Each year we have many applications for the courses we offer here which are in high demand due to the nature of the colleges work. Those looking to attend should ideally phone the college (0808 168 6626) to confirm their attendance in advance in the days before the event.

Tuesday 13 January 2015

Calling all Former Students...

Bicester Motorsports, formerly OCVC, are seeking former students to add to the Hall of Fame which is being compiled to demonstrate the high number of our students who get jobs in the motorsports industry.

As one of the oldest motorsports colleges in the UK, Bicester Motorsports is a dedicated campus which has given many hundreds of students a positive start to their careers in motorsports. They are well placed to help, with established linkes with Force India, Prodrive, Lotus, Caterham, and a location near to many hundreds of supportive companies and suppliers. Figures for the last two years show that more than a third of students go on to work in motorsports at the high end, and apprenticeships with motorsports teams are growing year on year.

So many students have achieved success in industry that staff have lost track of many of the successful, and we have begun plans to honour those who have been so successful by setting up an alumni association and Hall of Honour. If you are a former student, or know a former student of ours, please get in touch.

Thursday 8 January 2015

Chris Aylett from MIA Visits Bicester Motorsports

Motorsport students from Banbury and Bicester College got an insight into the industry thanks to two visiting speakers.

Chris Aylett, the CEO of the Motorsports Industry Association and Alistair Greene, a welder fabricator at Lotus F1, visited the Bicester campus to speak to first year students.

Chris spoke about businesses within motorsport valley and the variety of work that they do. He gave the students advice about how to start a career in motorsports and how to succeed in the industry.

Alistair brought a steering column from a F1 car, which he passed around for the students to see.

Elliott Fred, one of the students who attended the session, said: “It was really beneficial that a person working in the industry came to talk to us as they were able to give us first hand experiences. It really renewed my interest in getting into F1.

“It was nice to hear from someone who wasn’t very academic but still managed to get into the highly competitive industry of Formula 1. I felt that I could really relate to this.”