Apprentice Services Laboratory Technician

Summary

This is a fantastically exciting opportunity to train as a services laboratory technician working at the cutting edge of medical science and development. As well as preparing for and assisting with practical medical classes, you will be working in the Services Team with 6 other members of staff supporting 34 research labs.

Wage

£25,331 a year

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Training course

Laboratory technician (level 3)

Hours

Monday to Friday 8am to 4.30pm One of these days will be allocated fully to the apprenticeship course run by CSR.

36 hours 30 minutes a week

Start date

Monday 1 September 2025

Duration

2 years

Positions available

1

Work

Most of your apprenticeship is spent working. You’ll learn on the job by getting hands-on experience.

What you’ll do at work

Some of your daily duties will include:

Collection and return of washing up and waste for disposal
Grading, sorting and washing up of laboratory glass and plasticware
Operation of autoclave for making safe waste for disposal, sterilisation of glass, plasticware and media
Operation of hot air oven for sterilisation of glassware
Removal of waste material to waste bins
Preparation and sterilisation of liquid media (for cell culture) and distilled water stocks
Maintaining stocks and reporting shortages. This would include pouring agar plates to replenish stock
Maintaining general lab cleanliness
Morning and afternoon meal break, holiday and sickness cover at main reception
Full training to be provided as part of the apprenticeship

Where you’ll work

Sir William Dunn School of Pathology
South Parks Road
Oxford
OX1 3RE

Training

Apprenticeships include time away from working for specialist training. You’ll study to gain professional knowledge and skills.

College or training organisation

CSR SCIENTIFIC TRAINING LIMITED

Your training course

Laboratory technician (level 3)

Equal to A level

Course contents

Comply with health and safety policies and procedures including HASWA, COSHH, risk assessments, use of personal protective equipment (PPE), manual handling, emergency procedures.
Maintain excellent housekeeping, in accordance with organisation Standard Procedures
Order and control stocks of laboratory materials where required
Identify, organise and use resources effectively to complete tasks applying the concepts of resource efficiency e.g energy, water and waste
Adhere to internal and external regulatory requirements e.g. GLP, GMP, GDP
Prepare for, and perform, laboratory experiments, tests or tasks following any specified methodologies to provide reliable, accurate data e.g. weighing, pipetting, filtering, spectroscopic techniques, chromatography techniques
Demonstrate technical competence in the use of specified instruments and equipment
Report faults and seek diagnostic advice to maintain equipment in good working order, including calibration where required
Complete documentation proficiently
Keep accurate records of laboratory work undertaken and results
Contribute to the preparation of reports.
Use simple statistical techniques for data presentation and evaluation e. g calculation of median and standard deviation, production of graphs
Demonstrate problem solving techniques including identification of sources of error and how they can be reduced e.g. human error
Use standard software packages and applications e.g. Microsoft Office suite
Use Laboratory Information Management systems to support their work
Address non-routine problems with samples and instrumentation, within defined areas
Identify relevant information from scientific sources e.g. supervisors, literature etc. in order to contribute to solutions
Participate in continuous performance improvement of systems and processes relevant to the work environment e.g. workplace organisation techniques, accreditation (e.g. ISO, UKAS) and proficiency testing.
Evaluate data, recognise and call attention to anomalous or unusual results
Comply with health and safety policies and procedures including HASWA, COSHH, risk assessments, use of personal protective equipment (PPE), manual handling, emergency procedures.
Maintain excellent housekeeping, in accordance with organisation Standard Procedures
Order and control stocks of laboratory materials where required
Identify, organise and use resources effectively to complete tasks applying the concepts of resource efficiency e.g energy, water and waste
Adhere to internal and external regulatory requirements e.g. GLP, GMP, GDP
Prepare for, and perform, laboratory experiments, tests or tasks following any specified methodologies to provide reliable, accurate data e.g. weighing, pipetting, filtering, spectroscopic techniques, chromatography techniques
Demonstrate technical competence in the use of specified instruments and equipment
Report faults and seek diagnostic advice to maintain equipment in good working order, including calibration where required
Complete documentation proficiently
Keep accurate records of laboratory work undertaken and results
Contribute to the preparation of reports.
Use simple statistical techniques for data presentation and evaluation e. g calculation of median and standard deviation, production of graphs
Demonstrate problem solving techniques including identification of sources of error and how they can be reduced e.g. human error
Use standard software packages and applications e.g. Microsoft Office suite
Use Laboratory Information Management systems to support their work
Address non-routine problems with samples and instrumentation, within defined areas
Identify relevant information from scientific sources e.g. supervisors, literature etc. in order to contribute to solutions
Participate in continuous performance improvement of systems and processes relevant to the work environment e.g. workplace organisation techniques, accreditation (e.g. ISO, UKAS) and proficiency testing.
Evaluate data, recognise and call attention to anomalous or unusual results

Your training plan

Through the training provider, CSR Scientific Training, you will undertake a Level 3 Laboratory Technician Apprenticeship which will include:

Fully recognised apprenticeship qualification - Level 3 Laboratory Technician
On-the-job competency training
Theoretical knowledge - BTEC Level 3 Applied Science or L4 HNC depending on previous academic attainment.

The majority of your learning will be completed online once a week with some face-to-face practical sessions/exams in Birmingham.

Upon successful completion, apprentices can apply for professional registration as a Registered Science Technician, RSciTech, with either the Royal Society of Chemistry or Royal Society of Biology.

Requirements

Essential qualifications

GCSE in:

x 5 including Maths, English and Science (grade C/4 or above)

Let the company know about other relevant qualifications and industry experience you have. They can adjust the apprenticeship to reflect what you already know.

Skills

Communication skills
Attention to detail
Organisation skills
Customer care skills
Problem solving skills
Administrative skills
Logical
Team working
Initiative
Non judgemental
Patience
Physical fitness

About this company

The Sir William Dunn School of Pathology (or Dunn School) has a spectacular history. Our research has saved millions, if not billions, of lives. The development of the first antibiotic, penicillin, ranks among the top medical discoveries of all time, and was the subject of a Nobel Prize in 1945, but we have never rested on those laurels. Other milestones include understanding the cellular basis of the immune system, discovery of the world’s most prescribed antibiotic class (the cephalosporins), the development of recombinant Factor IX as a treatment for certain types of haemophilia, new types of influenza vaccine (given to millions of people worldwide), and immune treatments to prevent transplant rejection against multiple sclerosis. Despite these achievements, we believe our best research is still to come. Our state-of-the-art biomedical research facilities are located in the centre of Oxford’s thriving South Parks Science area. Over 300 scientists from more than 30 countries work in a collaborative setting to uncover the molecular and cellular mechanisms that underlie human health and disease. Research excellence is our main goal, and we invest in a supportive, inclusive and diverse environment, which is essential for the best science and scientists to thrive.

https://www.path.ox.ac.uk/ (opens in new tab)

After this apprenticeship

Over 80% of our apprentices continue with us in the role they have been trained for after their apprenticeship and that is just the start of their career.

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