I attended the National Careers Guidance show at Olympia in London a couple of weeks ago and one of the most interesting talks I went to was on careers in the British Space industry.

It was delivered by an excellent speaker from the National Space Academy, which is run by the National Space Centre in Leicester. It's purpose is to increase space related knowledge and education within the UK, in order to increase the number and quality of students entering science and engineering careers.

Some of the most interesting points you may not be aware of are:

  • The UK space industry is huge and is a an expanding industry. It  employs 35, 000 people and has an 11 billion  turnover
  • Of course this is not just related to space travel-it covers all sorts of areas. Some examples of these are: satellite design and production, aeronautical engineering, robotics, law and computer programming
  • The UK is a world leader in Satellite design, building and operations and this is an area  that is likely to be expanding in the future
  • It is possible to study a level 3 space engineering course, that involves A level Maths and Physics along with a BTEC level 3 engineering diploma and an extended project covering engineering and physics problems. It is all taught in a 'space' context and is currently available at Loughborough College/National Space Academy, Salford City College and Birmingham Metropolitan College/Great Barr School  from Sept 2015

  • It is also possible to do a higher apprenticeship in the space industry. It has been put together by UK space sector companies and can lead to a Foundation Degree in Engineering validated by the University of Leicester.

  • Airbus is one of the major British companies in the space industry and they offer Higher apprenticeships and graduate schemes

  • For more information see the following websites:

Many thanks to the speaker from the National Space Academy for this information