The heiress to the Swedish throne, Princess Victoria, visited Hackney Community College last week to learn about their Tech City apprenticeship scheme.
Princess Victoria was joined by her husband Prince Daniel Westling and Sweden’s trade minister Ewa Björling.
Dr. Björling described the digital links between Sweden and the UK as “increasingly important in a globalised economy.”
The scheme places 20 apprentices with technology companies across London.
Ian Ashman, principal of Hackney Community College said: “We’re the first college in the country to do the higher level apprenticeship in technology.”
The Princess met Hafsana Akthar, a former apprentice currently working at the college, and apprentice Douglas Adu-Boahen, who is working at Shoreditch design company, Poke.
Hafsana Akthar studied an apprenticeship in Business Administration while working in a marketing department and said that it “gave [me] all the experience I needed plus a lot of confidence.”
“Working there was one of the key points in my [job] application,” she added.
Adu-Boahen spent a year at Brunel University studying journalism, but realised it “wasn’t for him”.
“Without the apprenticeship I wouldn’t have even heard about Poke.”
Similar stories:
Kate Middleton lookalike plans royal striptease for wedding night