Technician Apprentice Review

Item: Technician Apprentice at BAE Systems
Rating: 2.4
Author: Anonymous

at BAE Systems

Level 3 Apprenticeship

Aeronautical and Aerospace Engineering

Warton, Lancashire

Review Submitted: April 2026

Overall Rating

2.4 /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!

2/5 - Overview of Role

3/5 - Skills Development

2.4/5 - Structure and Support

Overview of Role

Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis:

2/5

My role as an apprentice varies between different engineering disciplines, most of these roles for me have been within Systems Engineering. It is a technical role with a lot of emphasis on documentation and following document management processes and understanding the engineering life-cycle. Day-to-day work could be updating technical documentation and working towards ensuring the final product matches the outlined requirements from a customer point of view. This also brings opportunities for testing which is a more active work environment but this is infrequent and depends on work load. As an apprentice the work can be inconsistent week on week and this means the work being done might be more administrative than engineering.

To what extent do you enjoy your programme?

2/5

I have found only a small part of the programme has run smoothly, as time has gone on I have adapted to the programme and its challenges, but many of these are avoidable and shouldn't be the sole responsibility of the apprentice. The thing I have enjoyed most, especially recently has been the noticeable difference in my understanding of engineering processes on a more detailed level. I don't believe it is possible to feel 100% ready to move into a permanent job role as I feel I have not been provided with the core fundamentals to carrying responsibility and placements don't always do well at providing this experience. What drives me is what comes after, and the opportunity to develop through further education and career-wise has never been in doubt for me here, but I think there should be more support and flexibility to us as individuals through Early Careers, this would be a massive benefit to mine and a lot of other apprentices' progression and aspirations.

Skills Development

Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?

3/5

I have absolutely learned new skills and these have been very valuable, I can look back to when I first started and I see the skills I have been given and put into practise. However, the majority of the skills I have learned are not directly related to engineering and, the engineering skills I did learn, such as CAD, were only important for one placement and I moved on and never used it again. There are bits and pieces of each placement I have undertaken that have provided valuable and enjoyable skills that work to my strengths but finding a job role that provides a balance of these skills is quite difficult.

Structure and Support

How well organised/structured is your programme?

1/5

I think the weakest part of the apprenticeship programme is the organisation and structure. Communication is very ineffective, guidelines and instructions are not always clear and are left to interpretation. Advice is constantly changed which makes it hard to follow and ends up making things even more confusing. Our group has had quite a few changes in managers, and Early Careers put a lot of responsibility on us to manage ourselves whilst constantly piling on pressure.

How much support do you receive from your employer?

2/5

Support for apprentices exists but in very small quantities. When I am on placement in my day-to-day role I receive a lot of support and it is easier to reach out for it that way. However with regard to Early Careers, it seems like there aren't enough resources to ensure that support can be provided to everybody on an individual basis, we are sort of grouped together and its very generalised. We have Skills Coaches which are very supportive for general queries but trying to get support beyond that is more difficult and I have had more negative experiences when trying to reach out for support because it causes an unnecessary amount of stress for us as apprentices and there have been times where I have not reached out for support or asked a question because I didn't feel comfortable doing so.

How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?

3/5

Support for my qualifications is a bit better, whilst the tutors at college don't always support us, if I have a concern I can go to the lead tutor or head of college and I am always listened to and something will be done about it to help me out. The level of teaching could be improved in my opinion, expectations are not abundantly clear and its inconsistent between tutors.

How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?

3/5

In terms of the level 3 qualification I am undertaking, the placements and mandatory knowledge questions support development and therefore helps me in my role but it isn't targeted and my exit role is still an unknown factor. On a more general basis, the qualification has helped me understand expectations and this ultimately has helped my performance.
In terms of my college qualifications, I have completed a Level 3 BTEC and currently undertaking a HNC in Aeronautical Engineering. The level 3 did not provide any value to my role, and whilst it was 2 years, was more of a set up to the HNC which since starting I have noticed a big difference in its impact on my day-to-day work in understanding engineering processes.

Are there extra-curricular activities to get involved in at your work? (For example, any social activities, sports teams, or even professional networking events.)

3/5

There are lots of extra-curricular activities, the large majority of which are professional networking and webinars on a variety of topics that target different audiences. Some of these have been useful for me, and I think its positive that the options are there. On the other hand, there are not a lot of communications surrounding sports or social activities through work. A lot of social activities I have been made aware of are through my placement and outside of work and this is up to the discretion of the team you are working with and not all teams will do social events.

Recommendations & Advice

Would you recommend BAE Systems to a friend?

Yes

Why?

If you carry a heavy passion for engineering, taking a leap forwards and making sure that you have a career for life I think BAE Systems is the best company to provide this. You don't need any previous knowledge and there is a scheme for everyone.

What tips or advice would you give to others applying to BAE Systems?

Despite the challenges that the apprenticeship throws at you, if you are the right type of person and have the commitment and motivation to succeed then you can definitely get something out of this apprenticeship. Keep your head down, work hard and know what you want to get out of it and it makes it just a little bit easier for yourself despite the pressure that it puts on you.

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