Hi guys to clarify on a few issues.
1) the NR apprentice wage is higher than the minimum apprentice wage. Mine worked out to roughly 8 grand in the first year, 12 in the second and 14 in the third. The first year is now 10 (last i checked) which is much higher than most. Its also useful to know you get a 1k bonus and your first year often ends up actually being 11 months. After that its much more liveable. The first 6 months are residential with all meals catered for, gym onsite etc. You may be put in a hotel or you may be in one of the rooms at the training centre. Both are to a good standard. So its possible to live very cheaply as long as you arent in a situation where you have to send your wages home. (I was like this, still doable but trickier). Its not quite as bad as it sounds, if you live at home or have support from a partner currently id strongly reccomend taking the paycut. If you have dependents then it could be different, weigh it up and see what's best for you. Tax credits made my first year liveable and I dont regret it.
2) Overtime is possible but dependent on area, stage of the apprenticeship etc. In the first 6 months you will have none guarranteed. It is not possible to work overtime at the training centre. After this it is dependent on your depot. Get stuck in, be willing to do the ugly jobs and naturally they are going to want you around more anyway. In certain disciplines apprentices are less useful and overtime is rare. However apprentices are contracted to 35 hours a week and many depots are on 40 hours which sometimes means you have overtime built into your roster because you will follow that of another team. You also get a premium for nights, weekends and bank holidays. Since we work shifts this does boost the pay considerably. In my first year i earnt the predicted but in the second and third years where i was more useful and where i was working with a 40hr team i earnt well over predicted. It really varies on your area. In summary yiu cant rely on it, and dont expect to get any for a while but in years 2 and 3 you will likely get something. Make sure your manager knows you are happy to do the hours. Overtime is also really useful when you can get it because we honestly need all the time in track we can to learn. The apprenticeship goes by swiftly.