Greater Anglia is inviting young people to apply for its three-week ‘First Step into Rail’ employability scheme, designed to help them build valuable workplace skills and gain hands-on experience across the rail industry.
The programme will support 10 successful candidates aged 18 to 25 who are currently not in employment, education or training. Participants will gain a wide range of transferable skills to help them progress into future roles either in the rail sector or other industries.
The company, which runs trains from London Liverpool Street to destinations in Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk, is looking for young people who have good communication skills, are keen to learn, have a willingness to develop their skills, and expand their CV.
Throughout the placement, candidates will work alongside experienced Customer Service colleagues at stations, learning practical frontline skills. They will also receive classroom-based training from Central Training Group on subjects such as personal confidence, self-awareness, time management, unconscious bias, prejudice and discrimination awareness, and communication skills.
Participants will further develop their knowledge of conflict management, customer complaints handling, and managing challenging behaviour. The scheme provides a broad introduction to the railway, with time spent across customer service, engineering, and train service delivery teams.
Applications are now open here and close on Sunday 14 December. Successful candidates will spend two days per week in classroom sessions at Greater Anglia’s Stratford headquarters and three days at busy stations across the network.
Viktorija Starling, Greater Anglia’s Early Careers and Apprenticeship Manager, said:
“We are excited to be offering the ‘First Step into Rail’ scheme again, following a successful first year in 2024.
“The scheme has been designed to give attendees valuable skills, giving young people who are keen to learn an insight into working on the railway at our HQ and stations. This will open a huge array of opportunities for candidates to use after completing the programme.”
Sarah Ludlow, Director of Business Training & Quality at Central Training Group, said:
“We are proud to team up with Greater Anglia and continue to play our part in teaching candidates on the scheme vital skills for any workplace, but particularly the railway, where communication and teamwork is so vital.
“We wish all those applying good luck.”
Rafael Stevens, a previous candidate of the First Step into Rail Scheme, said:
"The scheme helped me to gain skills that I could use in my CV and the workplace, opening up a huge array of opportunities for future employability.
" The programme built my confidence and gave me a real insight into what life is like on the railway. It was worth completing and has ultimately helped me secure a permanent role at Greater Anglia.”
Interviews for the placements will be coordinated by Central Training Group.
The scheme is unpaid, but candidates will receive reimbursement for expenses and will be provided with free travel on the Greater Anglia network during their placement.
Applications for the First Step into Rail scheme can be submitted via the Greater Anglia website or via the Central Training Group website until 14 December 2025.