Advanced Technician Apprentice Review

Item: Advanced Technician Apprentice at BAE Systems
Rating: 2.5
Author: Anonymous

at BAE Systems

Level 3 Apprenticeship

Aeronautical and Aerospace Engineering

Warton, Lancashire

Review Submitted: April 2026

Overall Rating

2.5 /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 - Overview of Role

4/5 - Skills Development

2.2/5 - 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

Day to day I complete different tasks depending on the placement i am in. In some placements i have done purely excel, in others I have had no engineering involvement and have practically worked in job recruitment and then in my current role i have done very hands on hardware engineering work which was actually made me want to work in this environment.
No other placement i have had has made me feel like i would want to encourage anyone else to pursue a BAE apprenticeship, the whole programme feels unorganised, the sudden changes to 4-6 month placements has really impacted a lot of people as they have still not found an area they would like to exit into and the ability to try different areas has been minimised.

To what extent do you enjoy your programme?

2/5

Currently i enjoy my role, however I am on year 3 of 4 and this has been the first time since the training school i have enjoyed my role fully. The programme would be a lot more enjoyable if people communicated, it seems that no one in a 'manager' role has any idea what is going on most of the time.
The feedback given my college tutors and skills coaches is also minimally standardised, there is so many different markings and opinions which is giving students a difficult time understanding.

Skills Development

Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?

4/5

Throughout the whole apprenticeship i have developed many differnent skills, however i feel this could be improved if there was to be more communication and better teaching within the ASK.

Structure and Support

How well organised/structured is your programme?

1/5

Communication and organisation throughout the program is poor, not everyone knows what's going on or next steps. This has been continuous throughout the programme.
There is minimal structure, having 4 different line managers has been difficult, it has meant there has been no continuous knowledge of what is going on.
A lot of students are also unsure of what is happening at their exit role/end of the apprenticeship and are un aware of what is actually required.

How much support do you receive from your employer?

2/5

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

3/5

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

2/5

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

Recommendations & Advice

Would you recommend BAE Systems to a friend?

Why?

until there is a change made to the apprenticeship program i would not recommend this to someone. There has been continuous complaints made to line managers, skills coaches, college tutors, that have come to no conclusion. Feedback has been asked for with no outcome with a lot of fake promises. As there have been no improvements to this for 5+ years i could not recommend it.