Platform Engineer Review
at IBM
Degree Apprenticeship
Information Technology, Software Engineering
Greater Manchester
Review Submitted: April 2026
Overall Rating
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
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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
Building minimum viable products, providing demonstrations and/or assisting other teams with technical projects.
To what extent do you enjoy your programme?
4/5
IBM has taught me a lot. University teaches you technical stuff end of Y2 onwards depending on your pathway (may have changed under new standard), so you have a good grasp on things already by the time you get there.
Skills Development
Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?
5/5
Learnt loads of new skills at IBM, especially in first year, where my team held a long bootcamp to teach fundamental skills needed for the role, which then put me in a position to actually contribute and learn, rather than being stuck on an empty file with the cursor blinking waiting for me to figure out the first line of code I needed to write. Also got a RedHat certification in containers and Kubernetes in my second year, which is related to my role.
Structure and Support
How well organised/structured is your programme?
3/5
I chose the software engineering pathway, as my role is technical, and I enjoy software. The issue with the way the course is structured, is that you do general business units until end of Y2, and then start the technical (pathway) content, at which point you've probably already applied most if not all of the content in the workplace, and the only real challenge is dealing with the quirks of Java, which is the language the university teaches. In Enterprise Programming (Y3), they also spend most of the time teaching plain Java because you need to know the basic concepts , which is fair enough but almost an entire semester is a bit much when the degree is meant to "prepare you for the workplace" (in Y3) and most companies use a framework like Spring Boot, which I think only one day was spent on. Really, the basic programming concepts should be taught in Intro to Programming in Y1, instead of spoon feeding Java syntax.
The entire degree feels a bit backwards for a course that is meant to prepare you for the workplace, as was emphasised many times during inductions. No employer will sit and wait around until you are in Y3 before putting you on projects, technical or otherwise.
The entire degree feels a bit backwards for a course that is meant to prepare you for the workplace, as was emphasised many times during inductions. No employer will sit and wait around until you are in Y3 before putting you on projects, technical or otherwise.
How much support do you receive from your employer?
5/5
Loads of support from IBM's side. Regular 1:1s with line managers and foundation managers you can contact at any time for support.
IBM supports your education really well, and personally I have found that if I need a bit of extra time in the day to focus on university work, I am given it. There's also access to all sorts of learning content, and you can ask to take exams for relevant qualifications, such as RedHat's EX188 course that I did.
IBM supports your education really well, and personally I have found that if I need a bit of extra time in the day to focus on university work, I am given it. There's also access to all sorts of learning content, and you can ask to take exams for relevant qualifications, such as RedHat's EX188 course that I did.
How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?
4/5
Lecturers are busy people so the amount of 1:1 support they can give is limited. Sometimes they have a way of saying a whole lot of nothing. That being said, most lecturers are able to explain concepts to you in depth during lab sessions / via email. There's also the Study Skills team, who can give good advice, but cannot look over your entire assignment, so it's up to you to try and apply their comments to the rest of it.
How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?
2/5
Most of what I have learned is from IBM's own training. For the most part, I have only really applied this at university. There have been a few new things here and there, but they come towards the end of the degree. You learn a lot by just talking with colleagues while working - e.g colleague mentioned some networking concepts while we were setting up a cloud environment and I asked about them, and he explained them really well to me before I even had the class at university. By the time you get to Y3, if you really take an interest in your role, you've probably learned more than the university gives you. The university seems to acknowledge this in the development (Y3) and synoptic projects (Y4), because they say you can use whatever tech stack you want as long as you can justify it.
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
Generally a lot of groups at IBM. There's lots of societies and inter-company events. In Manchester, there is a football group. I know some people in London organised a tennis group and a cooking group. I've heard of groups going out to go bouldering together as well.
Recommendations & Advice
Would you recommend IBM to a friend?
Yes
Why?
IBM is great for developing your skills and growing as a person in a safe work environment.
What tips or advice would you give to others applying to IBM?
Focus on soft skills and show an interest in the role you are applying for. You can always learn everything else later - that's the whole point of the apprenticeship.
