Degree Apprentice Project Manager Review
at BAE Systems
Degree Apprenticeship
Project Management
Filton
Review Submitted: May 2025
Overall Rating
2.8 /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!
2.5/5
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Overview of Role
4/5
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Skills Development
2.2/5
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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
I am an Apprentice Project Manager, currently working as support to Project Professionals to ensure best use of software to track and manage progression of tasks against our plans. I am involved with financial tracking to ensure alignment of tracked hours on our software against what is booked on timesheets.
To what extent do you enjoy your programme?
2/5
I mainly enjoy my programme, however there are sometimes situations that I find frustrating. These are things such as unnecessary admin around things I do outside of my working life and [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the Higherin Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] when needing an answer to a question off the back of a decision made higher up in early careers.
Skills Development
Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?
4/5
I have learnt many skills that are transferable throughout the Project Management workspace through both university studies and in house training courses. Some of these skills include: risk management, presentation skills, stakeholder management techniques and also earned value management.
Structure and Support
How well organised/structured is your programme?
1/5
The programme often seems insufficiently structured. The programme was changed to become more of a national programme when I joined, and it seems the case that I am in a 'guinea-pig' cohort, whereby new structures are being tested year by year which often do not work. This does not all come from BAE Systems however, more-so their communications and planning alongside the university.
How much support do you receive from your employer?
2/5
I often receive support from my employer. They try their hardest to support all apprentices and graduates, however due to their lack of size in their team and the growing intake of early careers, this is often overlooked and can lead to support being missed.
How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?
2/5
Not much. Support is offered by the university during lectures, but feedback can be confusing which leads to overall confusion when needing to complete assignments and other work.
How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?
1/5
Some modules contain useful information that I can take away and use within my role. However, due to the nature of the university and BAE deciding on modules as they go along, modules often seem completely off-topic in comparison to the course I am supposed to be doing, which is then completely useless when it comes to helping me in my roles, actually becoming a nuisance that I have to complete the module at the same time.
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 often socials that I am able to attend every few weeks.
Recommendations & Advice
Would you recommend BAE Systems to a friend?
Yes
Why?
I would recommend BAE Systems due to how well they look after you as an employee - offering many incentives to work for them. However, I would not recommend the current role that I am in until there is more clarification on how they are running the scheme to ensure the experience is better than mine.
What tips or advice would you give to others applying to BAE Systems?
To consider having a larger Early Careers Team to enable adequate support to be given to apprentices, and also to listen to feedback provided by those currently on the scheme to ensure better delivery in the future by eliminating the larger issues that have been caused by changes to the scheme.
