Advanced Manufacturing Apprentice Review
at GE Aerospace
Level 3 Apprenticeship
Manufacturing, Electronic and Electrical Engineering
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
Review Submitted: May 2025
Overall Rating
4.3 /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
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:
4/5
My role involves working with production staff to learn multiple different product we make on site. I learn the processes, regulations, tests, and requirements involved with units and boards and i get to see a wide range of products at different stages of development.
To what extent do you enjoy your programme?
4/5
I enjoy the apprenticeship a lot, especially when i get to learn a new unit or process. It's really interesting to learn new units and see how all the parts fit together and what they all do. College work isn't always the best, however when that does go smoothly the content is quite interesting.
Skills Development
Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?
5/5
I have learnt so many new skills working at GE. I've learnt how to build many PCBs and units as well as some stages of test and inspection. I've learnt a lot of basic skills as well such as soldering, tinning, applying things like varnish, visual inspection and fault finding.
Structure and Support
How well organised/structured is your programme?
3/5
The structure has been changing recently to try and provide apprentices with more options to learn new areas without taking away the depth of knowledge in one so the structure has been unorganised recently. However, this is to benefit future apprentices and allow them to move around teams and learn multiple sections. For now, we are discussing with our manager about what we as apprentices would prefer and benefit form and changing the structure as we go to see what works best for everyone.
How much support do you receive from your employer?
5/5
The support from mangers, facilitators, and team coaches is phenomenal. Everyone is extremely supportive and open to hearing issues related to work or ones that are more personal. They are all really open and friendly and will find time to help you even if they are busy.
How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?
3/5
There are different levels of support at the college. The lecturers do their best to support your education and help you with assessments and course work even if its no their subject. We also have a college coordinator who reviews our progress regularly and supports our college and work development.
How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?
3/5
There are certain aspects of the qualification that i think benefit the most. These are things like our solder/practical coursework, learning about basic health and safety regulations, learning the basics of circuits, electronics and faultfinding. I think the amount of assessments is unnecessary and can sometimes cause confusion but the positives out way the negatives.
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 lots of extra-curricular activities at work. Some are more work focused helping network, build team building, and benefit the company/site in some way such as organising more extra-curricular events. Some events are things like sports day, new starter meet and greets, and the apprentice residential.
Recommendations & Advice
Would you recommend GE Aerospace to a friend?
Yes
Why?
There is a lot of support at the company for everyone to use. The pay is really good and there are plent of job roles to consider and you can continue applying and moving around jobs in the company. Some roles offer further or more challenging education which can help you develop your skills further. There are lots of apprentice events which encourage networking and team building meaning there is a good support group for people if you need help.
What tips or advice would you give to others applying to GE Aerospace?
Read all of the information they send you if you apply, even if it takes a while. If they send you any documents, save them in a folder you know where to find because it'll save you a lot of worrying about what you need to save later from personal experience. If you have any issues, reach out to the application team and they'll help you. I had some organisation issues when i applied and they were really helpful and didn't judge me at all which was really reassuring.
