DevOps Apprentice Review
at Department for Work and Pensions
Higher Level Apprenticeship
Software Engineering
Leeds
Review Submitted: February 2026
Overall Rating
4.4 /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
4/5
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Skills Development
4.4/5
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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
I am a DevOps Engineering apprentice - so my role / my teams role is to make sure that the development environment is the best that it can be, so that the developers - eg. the software engineers, have the tools and information they need to do their job without friction. This involves using technologies like Docker, Terraform, etc. As well as less technical things like writing documentation, communicating with other teams via things like Slack, or in meetings. A lot of DevOps is dealing with architecture / system-wide issues as they come up, so that the developers don't have to deal with them themselves.
To what extent do you enjoy your programme?
4/5
My apprenticeship is split into two parts; the DWP / work-based part, and the bootcamp / educational part - with the bootcamp being ran by a company called Makers.
The DWP side was / is fantastic - my team are amazing, and they were so welcoming and helpful, and never once made me feel as useless as I was when I first started. My manager is also unbelievably good - the best manager I have ever had, by a mile.
I am extremely neurodivergent (autism, ADHD, C-PTSD) and I was very worried about coming into a corporate structure - because I have had issues with bullying at work in the past, and hostility from management, etc. But I have been at the DWP for around nine months now, and I can honestly say that I have never met a single mean person! I was encouraged to ask for accommodations, and the entire process was so lovely that it honestly healed something in me. They worked with me to make sure that my working here is sustainable, and because of that I can work without worrying about burnout - and I know that if I ever DID start going through burnout, that I could go to my manager and tell them without being scared. Which any neurodivergent person reading this will know is huge. I honestly cannot recommend DWP enough as an employer, especially for neurodivergent people.
The reason that this is 4 stars, is because of the bootcamp side - while, again, the Makers staff were / are all absolutely lovely, the bootcamp itself is a little bit lacking. Especially when the context is that we are already in work, and we need this information in order to do our jobs.
The DWP side was / is fantastic - my team are amazing, and they were so welcoming and helpful, and never once made me feel as useless as I was when I first started. My manager is also unbelievably good - the best manager I have ever had, by a mile.
I am extremely neurodivergent (autism, ADHD, C-PTSD) and I was very worried about coming into a corporate structure - because I have had issues with bullying at work in the past, and hostility from management, etc. But I have been at the DWP for around nine months now, and I can honestly say that I have never met a single mean person! I was encouraged to ask for accommodations, and the entire process was so lovely that it honestly healed something in me. They worked with me to make sure that my working here is sustainable, and because of that I can work without worrying about burnout - and I know that if I ever DID start going through burnout, that I could go to my manager and tell them without being scared. Which any neurodivergent person reading this will know is huge. I honestly cannot recommend DWP enough as an employer, especially for neurodivergent people.
The reason that this is 4 stars, is because of the bootcamp side - while, again, the Makers staff were / are all absolutely lovely, the bootcamp itself is a little bit lacking. Especially when the context is that we are already in work, and we need this information in order to do our jobs.
Skills Development
Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?
4/5
The Makers bootcamp mentioned above is split into two parts - Foundation (Software Engineering), and Specialism (which, for me, was DevOps)
Foundations was primarily focused on Python, and SQL. I was a Software Engineer previously, so I already knew the majority of the materials - but it was nice to have a refresher, and to help other people in my cohort.
In the Specialism, we were taught the very basics of a lot of DevOps tools - eg. Docker, Terraform, and a lot of tiny bits of AWS.
Foundations was primarily focused on Python, and SQL. I was a Software Engineer previously, so I already knew the majority of the materials - but it was nice to have a refresher, and to help other people in my cohort.
In the Specialism, we were taught the very basics of a lot of DevOps tools - eg. Docker, Terraform, and a lot of tiny bits of AWS.
Structure and Support
How well organised/structured is your programme?
4/5
The structure is a bit odd - you go to work for a few weeks, then to the bootcamp, then back to work again. It feels to me like it would make more sense to just do the bootcamp, and then go to work after that. But it is very possible that there is some wider logic to this that I do not understand.
How much support do you receive from your employer?
5/5
The DWP has a team specifically to help apprentices - who are all really nice, and they even organised a trip for us to London.
I was also assigned a buddy - who is a person that has been through this exact apprenticeship before, who essentially can answer all the questions I have about the coursework etc.
The DWP is very focused on learning and development in general - so we are able to get certifications, access to learning platforms, etc for free. They are also always running workshops that we are encouraged to go to.
My team and manager are also very willing to sit and teach me stuff, which is the perfect environment when you're learning on the job. It also reduces a lot of my anxiety around doing things wrong and somehow creating a disaster, because they are willing to show me exactly how we do things.
As mentioned above, they have also been very supportive in relation to my neurodivergence in general - and I have never been made to feel like an irritation, which was a daily occurrence in my previous role.
I was also assigned a buddy - who is a person that has been through this exact apprenticeship before, who essentially can answer all the questions I have about the coursework etc.
The DWP is very focused on learning and development in general - so we are able to get certifications, access to learning platforms, etc for free. They are also always running workshops that we are encouraged to go to.
My team and manager are also very willing to sit and teach me stuff, which is the perfect environment when you're learning on the job. It also reduces a lot of my anxiety around doing things wrong and somehow creating a disaster, because they are willing to show me exactly how we do things.
As mentioned above, they have also been very supportive in relation to my neurodivergence in general - and I have never been made to feel like an irritation, which was a daily occurrence in my previous role.
How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?
5/5
This is honestly one of the positives about Makers - they have a focus on mental health that they really do put into practice. They offer a sort of counselling session, and the person who did mine was unbelievably good at her job. She made me feel so much less anxious. They also offer meditation every morning, and well-being workshops every so often - including women’s empowerment, which were all fantastic.
In general, we have a coach assigned to us from Makers, who relays information, and has the occasional check-in meeting. Again, my coach is very nice and very encouraging. The communication can be a little bit spotty at times, but overall this aspect is good.
We also have an online portal to tell us what we need to do and when, and this is also where we submit our work. This is both during the bootcamp on a week by week basis, and afterwards for the coursework portion. The information here can be a little bit confusing, and is sometimes not up to date. But again, overall, this aspect is fine.
In general, we have a coach assigned to us from Makers, who relays information, and has the occasional check-in meeting. Again, my coach is very nice and very encouraging. The communication can be a little bit spotty at times, but overall this aspect is good.
We also have an online portal to tell us what we need to do and when, and this is also where we submit our work. This is both during the bootcamp on a week by week basis, and afterwards for the coursework portion. The information here can be a little bit confusing, and is sometimes not up to date. But again, overall, this aspect is fine.
How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?
3/5
I have done a lot of bootcamps in the past, and this one was the thinnest in terms of content by far.
There is a huge focus on self-led learning - the most workshops we had per week was two. So, while we did have a tutor there that we could ask for help, we were primarily teaching the material to ourselves.
This was fine for the Foundations, because I already knew most of it and I was able to fill in the gaps, when it wasn't information I already knew, I really started to struggle.
The Foundations materials were quite in-depth and well structured for the most part, so you do come out of it knowing what you went in to learn, in a way that you would be able to apply it in a work environment. This, unfortunately, was not the case for the Specialism. While we were eg. taught what buttons to press on AWS to do certain things, a lot of the 'why' was missing - which makes applying what we had learnt to a real-life environment, especially one as complicated as DWP, extremely difficult.
I came back to work not feeling at all prepared to be a professional DevOps engineer. Which is particularly frustrating, because I feel like 16 weeks full-time is more than enough to teach us everything we need, but the current Makers structure unfortunately does not do that - at least, not the DevOps specialism.
There is a huge focus on self-led learning - the most workshops we had per week was two. So, while we did have a tutor there that we could ask for help, we were primarily teaching the material to ourselves.
This was fine for the Foundations, because I already knew most of it and I was able to fill in the gaps, when it wasn't information I already knew, I really started to struggle.
The Foundations materials were quite in-depth and well structured for the most part, so you do come out of it knowing what you went in to learn, in a way that you would be able to apply it in a work environment. This, unfortunately, was not the case for the Specialism. While we were eg. taught what buttons to press on AWS to do certain things, a lot of the 'why' was missing - which makes applying what we had learnt to a real-life environment, especially one as complicated as DWP, extremely difficult.
I came back to work not feeling at all prepared to be a professional DevOps engineer. Which is particularly frustrating, because I feel like 16 weeks full-time is more than enough to teach us everything we need, but the current Makers structure unfortunately does not do that - at least, not the DevOps specialism.
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
As mentioned above, DWP do organise workshops etc. We were also taken on a trip to London by the apprenticeship team.
There are absolutely social events etc that go on, and other things like teams channels you can join for certain things - eg. there is one for autistic people. I am positive there are aspects of this that I haven't yet discovered, because I am really not this sort of person, but I am sure that there is a lot of this sort of things at DWP.
There are absolutely social events etc that go on, and other things like teams channels you can join for certain things - eg. there is one for autistic people. I am positive there are aspects of this that I haven't yet discovered, because I am really not this sort of person, but I am sure that there is a lot of this sort of things at DWP.
Recommendations & Advice
Would you recommend Department for Work and Pensions to a friend?
Yes
Why?
As outlined above, the DWP have honestly been a dream come true for me in terms of employer. They have been so nice to me at every single stage.
A lot of the time, especially when it comes to huge organisations, they can tend to advertise one company culture and then the day to day reality is very different. Eg. they will advertise themselves as a 'blameless culture', but then the day to day reality will be of you getting blamed / treated badly for tiny mistakes.
But my experience has been that DWP really practice what they preach. Which, as an autistic person, I really appreciate. Every time I have needed anything I have had multiple people to ask, and those people actually help - I have never once been told that someone will do something, and then it hasn't happened.
I am the sort of person who is very hard on myself, and I want to be performing at 100% at all times, and I have been actively encouraged by basically everyone to chill out. It is strongly discouraged to do things like working outside of business hours, or to check-in / go to meetings during annual leave.
I can obviously only speak for my department / the Digital part of DWP - so this may not be the case everywhere, but I do not have anything negative to say about them.
A lot of the time, especially when it comes to huge organisations, they can tend to advertise one company culture and then the day to day reality is very different. Eg. they will advertise themselves as a 'blameless culture', but then the day to day reality will be of you getting blamed / treated badly for tiny mistakes.
But my experience has been that DWP really practice what they preach. Which, as an autistic person, I really appreciate. Every time I have needed anything I have had multiple people to ask, and those people actually help - I have never once been told that someone will do something, and then it hasn't happened.
I am the sort of person who is very hard on myself, and I want to be performing at 100% at all times, and I have been actively encouraged by basically everyone to chill out. It is strongly discouraged to do things like working outside of business hours, or to check-in / go to meetings during annual leave.
I can obviously only speak for my department / the Digital part of DWP - so this may not be the case everywhere, but I do not have anything negative to say about them.
What tips or advice would you give to others applying to Department for Work and Pensions?
Do it! They were so nice, and the barrier for entry for the apprenticeships is basically non-existent. I didn't even know what 'DevOps' meant until after I had applied. Many people in my cohort had never written a single line of code before.
Employment and Partnership co-ordinator
at Department for Work and Pensions
- Higher Level Apprenticeship
- Essex
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4.4
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at Department for Work and Pensions
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3.8
