Digital and Technology solutions apprentice Review
at JLR
Degree Apprenticeship
Software Engineering
Coventry
Review Submitted: March 2025
Overall Rating
4.1 /5
The Overall Rating is the average of all the ratings given in each category. We take those individual ratings and combine them into one final score!
4/5
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Overview of Role
4/5
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Skills Development
3.6/5
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Structure and Support
Overview of Role
Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis:
4/5
I do a stand-up meeting around 8:45 - 9:15 depending on the team i'm at.
Then i just proceed to do the tasks from a kanban board and working on story points as I go along.
We operate using agile, so 2 week sprints are common, with a long BRP every quarter. Which goes over the work and what should be done in the future.
Generally speaking I program every day, right now I'm using react.js but previously I was on a project using angular.
Daily work is generally quite nice and calm, not too high stress, it just highly depends on your manager. I'm sure some managers have little knowledge of what you're doing and others who share the same knowledge pool.
Then i just proceed to do the tasks from a kanban board and working on story points as I go along.
We operate using agile, so 2 week sprints are common, with a long BRP every quarter. Which goes over the work and what should be done in the future.
Generally speaking I program every day, right now I'm using react.js but previously I was on a project using angular.
Daily work is generally quite nice and calm, not too high stress, it just highly depends on your manager. I'm sure some managers have little knowledge of what you're doing and others who share the same knowledge pool.
To what extent do you enjoy your programme?
4/5
I quite enjoy my program, but at the beginning was brutal with work that was unrelated to programming, and completely non-related to my field. I managed to sort that out by getting placements with a different department within powertrain. Powertrain, is a huge department, so there is programming opportunities out here, that difficult to navigate.
Once you find a nice team, I do recommend you try to move teams or settle down and find more placements. I think in first year alone I did far too many, like 3 because the first 2 teams were just rough to get going in.
Once you find a nice team, I do recommend you try to move teams or settle down and find more placements. I think in first year alone I did far too many, like 3 because the first 2 teams were just rough to get going in.
Skills Development
Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?
4/5
Yeah I've mainly developed web development skills throughout my apprenticeship. I really like the opportunity every friday to just spend a day of learning.
Learnt, next.js, react.js, tailwind, some angular, Flask, python, SQL,
So i might not be 100% satisfied with what I can do, I still struggle on leading solo software projects (which is very hard). But i do enjoy learning all of this, especially how to diagram and make the presentation neater when writing documentation which is so important, because you will always leave behind work, which other people will want maintenance on!
Friday is a good time to just bunker down and get last minute assignments done (like me ) or if you're an organized fellow, you can do pretty much any work on friday and log it into your learning journal.
learning is encouraged, and highly streamlined, so you can get udemy license and other opportunities to learn new skills.
Learnt, next.js, react.js, tailwind, some angular, Flask, python, SQL,
So i might not be 100% satisfied with what I can do, I still struggle on leading solo software projects (which is very hard). But i do enjoy learning all of this, especially how to diagram and make the presentation neater when writing documentation which is so important, because you will always leave behind work, which other people will want maintenance on!
Friday is a good time to just bunker down and get last minute assignments done (like me ) or if you're an organized fellow, you can do pretty much any work on friday and log it into your learning journal.
learning is encouraged, and highly streamlined, so you can get udemy license and other opportunities to learn new skills.
Structure and Support
How well organised/structured is your programme?
3/5
The programme structure is split into block weeks 1 week at a time every 5-6 weeks.
You rarely go to the university campus, as a result it becomes quite strange experience because you are a university student without feeling like one.
I like the structure enough, although I prefer 1 university lecture a week so you can take in what the lessons are saying. Its a bit tough juggling everything together uni and work. But overall its difficult to learn, because learning for me takes quite a bit of time.
You rarely go to the university campus, as a result it becomes quite strange experience because you are a university student without feeling like one.
I like the structure enough, although I prefer 1 university lecture a week so you can take in what the lessons are saying. Its a bit tough juggling everything together uni and work. But overall its difficult to learn, because learning for me takes quite a bit of time.
How much support do you receive from your employer?
4/5
I receive lots of support, although early careers team, and your tripartite leaders are a bit helpless when it comes to situations that are grey. If youre stuck in the wrong team, your manager might not even help you in some cases, which i've heard made some people quite miserable in the first 6 months.
Luckily that wasn't the case for me and I've moved teams and left HIL testing, which wasn't my thing at all
Luckily that wasn't the case for me and I've moved teams and left HIL testing, which wasn't my thing at all
How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?
4/5
generally speaking there are google cloud certificates, (very well established) and are very helpful with learning data science, data engineering and other stuff. these courses are apparently quite hard.
The company gives 1 day a week of studying and you can request your scrum master, or manager to work on your university assignments at work, (I never found the need to do this)
Overall company was accommodating at many levels, but it all depends on the manager you get. Some are more strict and won't let you do university work (tbh you do get 1 day a week anyways). I recommend just studying on the friday as you should and getting some work down. I'm guilty of not doing this diligently but its still good advice.
The company gives 1 day a week of studying and you can request your scrum master, or manager to work on your university assignments at work, (I never found the need to do this)
Overall company was accommodating at many levels, but it all depends on the manager you get. Some are more strict and won't let you do university work (tbh you do get 1 day a week anyways). I recommend just studying on the friday as you should and getting some work down. I'm guilty of not doing this diligently but its still good advice.
How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?
3/5
most university modules are quite unrelated. I think most business and networking, cybersecurity and IOT are not 100% related. I remember the programming and maths modules in the first year being the most simple and straightforward.
Any assignment writing is an absolute pain, including some videos and group work that can also be sluggish.
University overall, is positive on the whole, but leaving it till the last moment will be very frustrating experience. I think most assignment I did was 2 weeks previously to the due date, which sometimes even that can be a bit stressful, depending on what type of large project you're on. Make it lighter on yourself, and spend 1 hour just gathering citations and references before deep diving and reading everything.
Any assignment writing is an absolute pain, including some videos and group work that can also be sluggish.
University overall, is positive on the whole, but leaving it till the last moment will be very frustrating experience. I think most assignment I did was 2 weeks previously to the due date, which sometimes even that can be a bit stressful, depending on what type of large project you're on. Make it lighter on yourself, and spend 1 hour just gathering citations and references before deep diving and reading everything.
Are there extra-curricular activities to get involved in at your work? (For example, any social activities, sports teams, or even professional networking events.)
4/5
You can join your university societies as always. I personally don't go to them, I just don't have the time after work, although i wish otherwise.
Other extra curricular is the INVEST IN YOU programme at JLR. They give you $200 to spend on anything to do with learning. Just go to their JLR website and then select what you want to do. I did my CBT motorcycle test with this money so the options are varied.
Other extra curricular is the INVEST IN YOU programme at JLR. They give you $200 to spend on anything to do with learning. Just go to their JLR website and then select what you want to do. I did my CBT motorcycle test with this money so the options are varied.
Recommendations & Advice
Would you recommend JLR to a friend?
Yes
Why?
JLR is a solid place to work. I've heard nightmare stories of other companies (I shall not name them) but they have a far rougher experience. I think JLR is a bit large company so there are more opportunities, but also you can easily find it very tough to get placements in other areas. You do have to fight your corner here, but as long as you got a bit of thick skin things can work out.
What tips or advice would you give to others applying to JLR?
I'll just get placements. Its very important and make sure you're proactively looking out for them.
Industrial Operations: Manufacturing Undergraduate
at JLR
- Placement (10 Months+)
- Liverpool, Halewood.
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3
