AFTER a concerted effort to encourage girls to get involved in engineering, AWE has welcomed an increase in the number of female apprentices joining the AWE Skills Academy, with the figure rising from five to 15 per cent.

The work that AWE’s Skills Academy has done with local schools has been credited for this increase, particularly the Girls in Engineering Challenge which took place in March.

This year, 45 apprentices in total have joined AWE, undertaking a variety of apprenticeships, such as mechanical maintenance, electronics and quality inspection.