GE Aviation Wales, based at Nantgarw, has decided not to employ 12 out of 15 third-year apprentices over concerns of plagiarism, Caerphilly Observer understands.
The apprentices, who have been studying at Coleg y Cymoedd as part of GE’s apprenticeship programme, were said to have been escorted off the premises of the engine maintenance facility on July 18.
A spokeswoman for the company, which employs around 1,400 staff, did not deny the reports when asked by Caerphilly Observer.
In a statement the company said: “This is an internal company matter. As a rule, we do not comment on internal company matters publicly.”
GE’s apprenticeship programme is run through Coleg y Cymoedd, with the college offering schemes in business admin and engineering. It is unclear which one the 12 apprentices were studying for.
The programmes are run over a three year period and apprentices gain technical experience, academic qualifications and on the job training.
Judith Evans, principal of Coleg y Cymoedd, said: “We cannot comment on matters relating to individual college learners. Coleg y Cymoedd has stringent processes to ensure the academic integrity of its courses, including those to identify and appropriately address matters such as plagiarism.
“We value our partnership with GE Aviation and the amount of investment they place into apprenticeship training each year.
“That long-standing relationship will continue to provide outstanding training opportunities for our learners.”
GE Aviation Wales has previously gone on record to stress how important apprentices are to its business and employs between 65 and 70 apprentices over three academic years.
The highly competitive programme regularly attracts ten applicants for every available vacancy.