Apprentice Review
at Arm
Degree Apprenticeship
Software Engineering
Cambridge
Review Submitted: April 2025
Overall Rating
3.7 /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
3.2/5
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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
My overall work day starts at 9am and ends at 5:30pm, with a minimum of 2 days in-office.
It typically consists of a daily stand-up for 10m, which gives an update of the current progress of work and where it is heading.
The rest of the day is usually spent writing code contributing to open source projects, debugging and/or reading materials.
Occasionally there will be wider organisational meetings and in-team meetings covering different agile events.
Once a week, there will be a university day for lectures and studying alike.
It typically consists of a daily stand-up for 10m, which gives an update of the current progress of work and where it is heading.
The rest of the day is usually spent writing code contributing to open source projects, debugging and/or reading materials.
Occasionally there will be wider organisational meetings and in-team meetings covering different agile events.
Once a week, there will be a university day for lectures and studying alike.
To what extent do you enjoy your programme?
4/5
The workside of the apprenticeship is very enjoyable. Alot of people are very encouraging and helpful. Honestly, one of the best workplace environments in the entire engineering industry. The technical aspects can be challenging and fun, othertimes it can fall flat but this very team dependant.
Skills Development
Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?
4/5
I have learned many new skills, split into technical and workflow skills.
In terms of workflow, this include vim, tmux and linux command line.
As for technical skills, these are usually picked up alongside the job, such as python, C, C++, Arm ASM/Intrinsics, gdb, CI/CD and some corresponding theory.
In terms of workflow, this include vim, tmux and linux command line.
As for technical skills, these are usually picked up alongside the job, such as python, C, C++, Arm ASM/Intrinsics, gdb, CI/CD and some corresponding theory.
Structure and Support
How well organised/structured is your programme?
3/5
Initially we were with QA, they were very poor, as you can read across the other reviews. However, since we have moved to BPP. Which is much better in terms of their delivery, schedule and course content. I also appreciate management for looking out for the apprentices best interests and making such a move.
As for work, we rotate around teams every year. We receive a choice of 5-10 different teams and told to rank them in preference.
I find this process can do with alot of improvement, it is very unlikely to receive your top choices and the decision is usually made far too close to the start of the next academic year. And as different teams have different environments and in office attendance (usually max 3, min 2) it poses an issue of finding accommodation. Of which, most offices are in expensive cities (or university cities). ARM does not provide much/if any support for this.
There is an official workplace curriculum, however it is very rarely conformed to. I think this leads to a very spotty knowledge base. With many apprentices being very strong in nuanced topics but lacking fundamental knowledge covering other things. I understand the degree should be resolving such issues but does not.
In my experience, i find many graduates are much quicker to ramp up in many teams, quickly building skills. As opposed to apprentices, who have the advantage of work experience but lack flexibility.
There is a one day apprentice conference every year, which is an enjoyable event to meet people and have fun. But usually, most apprentices will not have another conference the whole year besides this one. I often see other companies offering much more to their apprentices in terms of tech/industry related events.
As for work, we rotate around teams every year. We receive a choice of 5-10 different teams and told to rank them in preference.
I find this process can do with alot of improvement, it is very unlikely to receive your top choices and the decision is usually made far too close to the start of the next academic year. And as different teams have different environments and in office attendance (usually max 3, min 2) it poses an issue of finding accommodation. Of which, most offices are in expensive cities (or university cities). ARM does not provide much/if any support for this.
There is an official workplace curriculum, however it is very rarely conformed to. I think this leads to a very spotty knowledge base. With many apprentices being very strong in nuanced topics but lacking fundamental knowledge covering other things. I understand the degree should be resolving such issues but does not.
In my experience, i find many graduates are much quicker to ramp up in many teams, quickly building skills. As opposed to apprentices, who have the advantage of work experience but lack flexibility.
There is a one day apprentice conference every year, which is an enjoyable event to meet people and have fun. But usually, most apprentices will not have another conference the whole year besides this one. I often see other companies offering much more to their apprentices in terms of tech/industry related events.
How much support do you receive from your employer?
3/5
We are given an industry tutor and a buddy. A buddy is usually for introducing you to a workplace, while an industry tutor is for supporting career growth.
A buddy is super helpful for a week or so as you settle. However, i find industry tutors tend to have very little purpose and they maybe in a completely adjacent field of engineering. And as such, may not be able to help technical problems. It usually ends up being a meeting for the sake of keeping ties but not usually a useful one. It would be better for management to clarify their purpose and hold events for career development.
I think ARM also can do with some improvements in regards to internal training. Usually such training is team dependant and informal. Of which, all my teams have been great and very enthusiastic. However, if you wish to take part in a course, you must officially request it and go through the normative process with other engineers (which usually takes alot of time). This does not make much sense to me as apprentices should be encouraged to do such courses and therefore have an easier pathway. I think this is a wider issue with the apprentice scheme, where the early careers board is typically very hands-off and it feels they don’t invest in apprentices in the workplace.
A buddy is super helpful for a week or so as you settle. However, i find industry tutors tend to have very little purpose and they maybe in a completely adjacent field of engineering. And as such, may not be able to help technical problems. It usually ends up being a meeting for the sake of keeping ties but not usually a useful one. It would be better for management to clarify their purpose and hold events for career development.
I think ARM also can do with some improvements in regards to internal training. Usually such training is team dependant and informal. Of which, all my teams have been great and very enthusiastic. However, if you wish to take part in a course, you must officially request it and go through the normative process with other engineers (which usually takes alot of time). This does not make much sense to me as apprentices should be encouraged to do such courses and therefore have an easier pathway. I think this is a wider issue with the apprentice scheme, where the early careers board is typically very hands-off and it feels they don’t invest in apprentices in the workplace.
How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?
3/5
As previously mentioned, BPP is alot better than QA. However their course content seems to be rather light on different technical modules, often preferring modules that would be seen in A-levels like project management, professional behaviours and digital strategies. I would like to see similar modules covered by CompSci grads like compilers, OS, Maths and so forth.
Im going to rate this 6/10, due to the above reasons and QA previously being awful.
Im going to rate this 6/10, due to the above reasons and QA previously being awful.
How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?
2/5
It’s nice to have a wider understanding of the workplace but fails to cover more technical aspects.
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
Yup loads, up to the individual to find them.
Recommendations & Advice
Would you recommend Arm to a friend?
Yes
Why?
Great work environment for more experienced engineers, they have some blind spots for early careers. Which i hope my review should improve.
What tips or advice would you give to others applying to Arm?
Be passionate, share your interests. Demonstrate you can work in a team.
