Apprentice Software Engineer Review
at Arm
Degree Apprenticeship
Software Engineering
Cambridge
Review Submitted: April 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!
4.5/5
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Overview of Role
5/5
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Skills Development
3.8/5
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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:
5/5
As an apprentice I split my time between day to day engineering and working towards my degree. I would often spend a day attending workshops from the training provider and completing other work and assignments. The rest of my time was spent working in an engineering team and completing smaller tasks that would help me learn while also supporting the general progress of the team.
To what extent do you enjoy your programme?
4/5
I really enjoy working for Arm and find that every team I have worked in has been very supportive of my learning and development. I have found the training provider, QA, to be less supportive.
Skills Development
Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?
5/5
I have learnt several new skills including multiple coding languages, how to work with different technologies and how best to ramp up with new or unknown projects. I've also learnt a lot about how development teams and projects run, both from the engineering aspect and the project management side of things.
Structure and Support
How well organised/structured is your programme?
5/5
At the beginning of my programme, apprentices had a "crash course" introduction to the company and a scheme of work to follow to introduce different concepts such as programming, ARM architecture basics and working with Linux. Once I was released into my team it was up to me to work with my line manager and industrial tutor to cover areas that I was interested in or felt I needed more learning in. I thought this was a good way to make sure I was being challenged, but not working too far outside of my comfort zone.
How much support do you receive from your employer?
4/5
I received a lot of support during my programme - all the teams and line managers I have had understood that I was also working towards a degree and allowed me to be flexible in how I split my time.
How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?
1/5
I did not receive adequate support from QA. The feedback for assignments was inconsistent and it was difficult to chat to tutors individually and ask questions. A lot of the time areas for improvement were alluded to but they didn't put the time or effort in to actually support students in identifying how this could be improved. I also found that while I was asked to feedback after every workshop and module completed, this fell on deaf ears.
How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?
4/5
I think it has given me a broad knowledge base that I can apply to my role, instead of just being focused on the programming aspect of the role. For example I have a lot more understanding of how projects are managed, more than I would have just from my day to day role, as it is not something I encounter.
Are there extra-curricular activities to get involved in at your work? (For example, any social activities, sports teams, or even professional networking events.)
5/5
There are many extra curricular activities at Arm. Most teams plan team socials for themselves and wider departments have social commitiees to organise larger events. There are also fantastic apprentices and graduates social commitees that are great for getting to know other early careers! There are a lot of employee resource groups as well and these are often the place to go for networking events with Arm's partners.
Recommendations & Advice
Would you recommend Arm to a friend?
Yes
Why?
I think Arm is a fantastic place to work and has so many opportunities. I have picked up a lot of technical skills over my apprenticeship but I've also become a lot more confident and have taken opportunities that I would have turned down in the past. Everyone is very friendly and I have met some great people.
What tips or advice would you give to others applying to Arm?
Be open-minded and prepared to learn. It will be hard work but as long as you are willing to do your best then you will thrive. There's also so many different teams working on different technologies so there will be something for everyone, even if your first role turns out to not be your thing.
