Finance Apprentice - Level 7 Review

Daily tasks and interactions really depend on the time of month. A lot of the time the work can feel quite arbitrary and I don't feel like I'm gaining any real value from it or giving value back to the business. Any routine or repeated work I complete very quickly through learning the processes well.

Fairly so - the apprenticeship is structured over 4 years (3 of those being more dedicated towards studying) with the final year available to provide more work experience and as an option for further education (top-up degrees). The roles are rotated once per year, and this process can feel very randomised at first. As above, the role you receive is like a lottery system - you will either get one where there are lots of development opportunities, or one where there aren't.

There is a quality support network in place who have our best interests at heart, with dedicated early careers teams and boards of managers who dedicate some of their time to helping on and improving the scheme. This helps when you've got any concerns you can feel comfortable approaching, and in my experience the direct line managers have all been approachable people - however the issue is their ability to dedicate time to their apprentices. As a lot of the time they are so busy, it leaves you as an apprentice to work a lot of things out on your own, which can be demotivating.

In all honesty, I have been lucky enough to not really need much support in my studies so far. However, I am aware that the support is there if needed. There are progress review calls roughly once every 12 weeks that allows the training provider to review progress and the opportunity to raise any concerns.

As with any qualification, there is lots of it that is relevant, for example in my current role we look a lot at provisions, which is taught in some detail in my qualification. Similarly, there is a lot of information that is completely irrelevant to the job roles but are necessary as to make the accounting qualification comprehensive.

Yes

Overall it is a solid company to work for. It is not without its faults, and in my experience the apprenticeship definitely hasn't been perfect. However, I still feel lucky to be on this scheme and am making a conscious effort to take more ownership of it and put in action plans to make it better for me going forward.