Engineering Technician Review
at BMW Group UK
Degree Apprenticeship
Engineering
Oxford
Review Submitted: May 2025
Overall Rating
3.5 /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!
3/5
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Overview of Role
4/5
-
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:
3/5
Four days per week are spent on placement around the company. For me so far, these have included exterior/ interior quality, digitalisation, and Electronics validation (all apply to my job role). One day a week is spent attending college classes as part of the foundation degree, where all modules are studied throughout the day.
To what extent do you enjoy your programme?
3/5
I have enjoyed the placements quite a bit so far. The range in projects and the ability to get familiar with colleagues around the business has kept them very interesting and I feel that I have the opportunity to contribute to each department I have been in. I have also been given the leads on a few projects and I have enjoyed the responsibility that accompanies them. Balancing university work has been a little more challenging this year, mainly down to the lack of content taught or clarity on assignments, which hasn't helped with manging work load. Better and more in-depth tutoring can definitely help with keeping to deadlines while managing the balance of university work and placements.
Skills Development
Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?
4/5
I have learned many new skills relating to my job role during placements due to the experience gained in different departments. I have been given a fair amount of responsibility in each department which has allowed me develop my work ethic and confidence, but also specific more job-related skills including design and root cause investigations.
Structure and Support
How well organised/structured is your programme?
3/5
The BMW provided part of the programme is reasonably well structured as most of the day-to-day is organised by the placement managers, who are experienced in managing apprentices. A higher frequency of catch-ups with training centre managers would be better - especially to be up to date with relevant information and have the chance to ask questions about it too. The university part of the programme is not too bad on structure, but sometimes can lack clarity in course structures and deadlines for assignments or projects, which can make the studying part more stressful than it needs to be.
How much support do you receive from your employer?
4/5
Placement managers and assigned mentors for each placement are always approachable and attempt to interact as much as possible, so were any kind of support necessary, they would be supportive. Organisational changes recently have meant that the training managers have been a little less contactable, however they usually are supportive if required.
How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?
2/5
It is completely dependent on the tutor for each subject. Some are much happier to sit down one-to-one to support on difficult topics if required as well as provide regular feedback to aid improvement. However some are not as supportive which can make the study much harder and require more time self-teaching the course than there should be. This seems to remain relatively consistent.
How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?
3/5
There have been a few relevant modules that have helped me. Quality and CAD modules have been the most applicable to my various placements as the majority of the work I do is quality based which inherently requires some kind of design and/or computer work. As our tutor for one of these topics is reasonably knowledgeable in the area, it has made understanding placement jobs a little quicker to do.
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
There are a couple apprentice-led teams that allow for extra-curricular tasks, for example a charity team who organise site-wide vents to help raise money for our chosen charity. There is also an on-site gym and football team for those who prefer to get involved in more active activities; all of which are open to apprentices.
Recommendations & Advice
Would you recommend BMW Group UK to a friend?
Yes
Why?
The apprenticeship programme as a whole is enjoyable, interesting and beneficial to a person's career growth. I have learnt a lot while being on placement and have definitely been able to determine that it is a career that I enjoy. The added bonus is the degree part which grants a higher qualification alongside the job itself. it is definitely the perfect option for someone who learns more form actively doing and immersing themselves in a job, rather than spending their time sitting in lectures.
What tips or advice would you give to others applying to BMW Group UK?
The best advice I could give for applying to BMW is to really think about why you would personally like to join the company, and why you think that the company might benefit from you joining the apprenticeship. Showing your passion for the sector, but mainly the company itself will really help with your application. Showing passion for working for the company in general will prove that you are more likely to be committed to working hard for the job and the degree too; both are major points to prove during your application and subsequent interviews if your application is successful.
