• After 68 years in Barcelona’s Zona Franca, the School is moving to new a 4,400-square-metre facility located in the company's Technical Centre, bringing students closer to the reality of industrial activity
• SEAT S.A. has invested €3.4 million in this new centre, where a Dual Vocational Training Programme of almost 5,000 hours based on the latest technologies will be taught
• Students undertake paid work experience from the start of their studies and are eligible to join the company's workforce after completing the programme

SEAT S.A.'s Apprentice School has moved from its historic plant in the Barcelona’s Zona Franca to the company’s Technical Centre in Martorell. With an investment of €3.4 million, SEAT S.A. has inaugurated the new 4,400 m² space next to the battery assembly plant, as part of its commitment to training young students alongside its professionals. This new location strengthens the company’s dedication to young talent and represents another step forward in its cultural transformation towards electrification.

“At SEAT S.A., people are the driving force behind our transformation, and we believe that training is an essential pillar for developing talent at all levels of the company. By relocating the Apprentices School to Martorell, we bring training closer to the heart of our industrial activity and our development center. In doing so, we are fostering highly beneficial synergies among engineers, professionals, and the school’s teachers and students. The new facilities allow us to strengthen the dual training model that responds to the real needs of the market and prepares future generations of professionals in key specialities," said Laura Carnicero, Executive Vice-President for People and Organisation at SEAT S.A.

With the aim of preparing students to enter the employment market, the SEAT S.A. training centre has become a talent pool, now within the company's main workplace. Since its foundation in 1957, it has trained more than 2,800 students and currently has over 160 scholars enrolled. The Apprentice School offers four training programmes: Industrial Automation and Robotics, Industrial Mechatronics, Production Programming in Mechanical Manufacturing and Automotive.

The courses taught at the SEAT S.A. Apprentice School are based on the German Dual Training system. The aim of this system is to bridge the gap between what students learn in the classroom and the practical reality that companies need. In addition, the training is updated annually to adapt to current market needs. Of the nearly 5,000 hours in each course, students will spend more than 2,100 hours gaining practical experience from day one in the workshops located in the classrooms and at SEAT S.A.'s three production centres in Martorell, Barcelona and El Prat.

Upon completing the courses, students will obtain an official double qualification, recognised by the Department of Education of the Government of Catalonia and the German qualification, awarded by the German Chamber of Commerce. The School's students will have an employment contract for Training and Apprenticeship, with remuneration established in accordance with the SEAT S.A. Collective Agreement. Students who successfully complete their studies will be eligible for vacant positions to join the company's workforce.

The training programme offered by the SEAT S.A. Apprentice School responds to the major challenges that future generations will face in the workplace and equips them with the tools they need to develop. For this reason, this professional training programme is committed to new educational methodologies in order to adapt to the digitalisation of the workplace and the transition to electric cars.

As a new feature this year, all programmes will incorporate training in Power Apps, a line of business intelligence software apps, app development and app connectivity. As part of the industrial, organisational and cultural transformation process being carried out by SEAT S.A., the company will invest 500,000 hours of training dedicated to its 14,000 employees to prepare them for the challenges of the future. Since the training programmes were implemented in the company, SEAT S.A. has already invested more than €15 million in training.