Data Science R&D Degree Apprentice Review

In my role as a Data Scientist apprentice, I support different parts of the business by helping them understand and use their data more effectively. On a typical day, I work with datasets from our internal systems, cleaning and organising the information so it’s ready for analysis. I often build dashboards and reports that help teams track performance or spot patterns in their data.
A big part of my job is also working with stakeholders – understanding what questions they’re trying to answer, turning that into something analytical, and then explaining the results in a clear, practical way. Alongside this, I regularly build my skills in coding, data engineering and visualisation so I can contribute more effectively as projects grow in complexity.

At the start, the programme was still fairly new, so the structure was quite open and based largely on what I was interested in working on. As time went on, it became more organised and aligned better with what I was learning at university. Not everything matched perfectly, but that encouraged me to look for new projects and tasks that would help me upskill and get the most value out of the apprenticeship. Overall, the structure improved over time and gave me enough flexibility to shape my own learning.

I received a lot of support from my employer throughout the apprenticeship. They were always open to letting me explore the areas I was interested in and encouraged me to take on work that would help me progress. I was given the time I needed to focus on my degree when required, while still having opportunities to work on meaningful projects that helped me build my skills.

I received a lot of support from my training provider throughout the apprenticeship. We had an individual mentor who regularly checked in with us to see how we were progressing with assignments and any apprenticeship‑related tasks, which helped make sure everything stayed on track for deadlines. We also attended university once a semester, which gave us valuable face‑to‑face time to discuss any blockers or issues and get the guidance we needed to move forward with our degree.

The degree has definitely been beneficial and is one of the main foundations that helped me perform better in my role. It gave me the core knowledge and understanding across the data science cycle, which I could then apply in real work situations. The combination of theory from university and hands‑on experience at work was especially valuable — even though it wasn’t always easy to directly link everything, it still helped me build confidence and develop the skills I needed.

Yes

Yes, I would definitely recommend Unilever to a friend. It’s a huge organisation with so many opportunities to grow, learn and connect with people. There are great networking opportunities both within your own team and across other areas of the business, and you get the chance to work with colleagues from all over the world. You’re also able to gain real, valuable experience by working with different teams, and the skills you develop are transferable to any future role or company.