DTS Degree Apprentice - Application Developer Review
at IBM
Degree Apprenticeship
Data Analysis, Front-end Development, Information Technology, Software Engineering
Manchester
Review Submitted: April 2026
Overall Rating
3.8 /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!
3.5/5
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Overview of Role
5/5
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Skills Development
3.6/5
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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
Day to day, I am mainly working on an application for our clients, it depends on the project, but as of now, we are working on re-modernising our clients' code, and so mainly I run an in-house tool to analyse the old code and make sense of it, think of it as a mix of data analysis and software engineering to an extent.
To what extent do you enjoy your programme?
3/5
Overall, I like the programme, however, due to the company's and the sector's nature which is more focused on consultancy, it does mean that alongside your usual work and university pressure, there is an extra pressure which is actually finding your next role/project.
Sometimes it can be easy, other times can be difficult. Often it can feel like you need to find a job within your job, a weird feeling but as I said it can go both ways depending on the person e.g if you have connections then finding your new calling can go smoothly but if not then be prepared to reach out, update your skills and prepare for internal interviews.
Sometimes it can be easy, other times can be difficult. Often it can feel like you need to find a job within your job, a weird feeling but as I said it can go both ways depending on the person e.g if you have connections then finding your new calling can go smoothly but if not then be prepared to reach out, update your skills and prepare for internal interviews.
Skills Development
Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?
5/5
Starting off as a non technical, I can say I have developed a lot on my technical side, wether its software engineering principles, the coding aspect, or even just the technical thinking behind it.
Also, being in a more consultant focused sector within my company, it meant I had to many client focused training, demos, presentations, and that development of my soft skills relating to presenting and explaining concepts to clients has grown immensely.
I feel as these skills affected me positively outside of my job too.
Also, being in a more consultant focused sector within my company, it meant I had to many client focused training, demos, presentations, and that development of my soft skills relating to presenting and explaining concepts to clients has grown immensely.
I feel as these skills affected me positively outside of my job too.
Structure and Support
How well organised/structured is your programme?
3/5
Again I would say overall its fine but since my sector's focused on client consulting, it can be unorganised at times. Meeting your KSBs and finding evidences can be truly difficult if you haven't yet found your new role/project. Then, there's also the issue of ensuring your new role actually aligns with your KSBs, what's the good in finding an interesting new role that is data focused when your KSB's are software engineering related ?
Then there is the point of actually, if I am in the data analyst pathway with data analyst KSBs, how do I even control how many, if any, data analyst roles are available, especially since it is all related to our clients and the projects available right now.
Then there is the point of actually, if I am in the data analyst pathway with data analyst KSBs, how do I even control how many, if any, data analyst roles are available, especially since it is all related to our clients and the projects available right now.
How much support do you receive from your employer?
4/5
Support is definitely available, your managers are helpful and do care for your development and want to see you succeed, within my company there are a lot of apprentices too which helps greatly for advice and support.
But again going back on the issue of role availability, unfortunately although your managers will help you with finding your next role it, at the end of the day, your managers can only do so much, projects and their respective clients are at the end what matters more compared to what your managers can do.
If the projects available need a certain skill and/or certain years level of experience then your manager will not be able to do much for you.
But again going back on the issue of role availability, unfortunately although your managers will help you with finding your next role it, at the end of the day, your managers can only do so much, projects and their respective clients are at the end what matters more compared to what your managers can do.
If the projects available need a certain skill and/or certain years level of experience then your manager will not be able to do much for you.
How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?
4/5
There's good support and feedback from the university, can't complain much on that front, however, some teachers/professors and their method of teaching can be seen as mediocre at best.
How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?
3/5
Again, it depends, going back to the role/projects availability problem. What good is is your IT Consultant learning and qualifications if the new project you have finally landed after weeks of reaching out and networking needs you to be a developer ?
In the other hand, if your role and learning aligns, then yes you can definitely feel more confidence when performing your role as you'd have more knowledge.
In the other hand, if your role and learning aligns, then yes you can definitely feel more confidence when performing your role as you'd have more knowledge.
Are there extra-curricular activities to get involved in at your work? (For example, any social activities, sports teams, or even professional networking events.)
4/5
Yes, I'd say there is a good amount of events to be involved in, only issue is I would say a lot are focused more towards the south, or London basically, and so our northern office sometimes can be quiet but we also get some of the action.
Recommendations & Advice
Would you recommend IBM to a friend?
Yes
Why?
You will learn a lot with this company, meet great people, become a more technical person and overall up-skill in many areas.
What tips or advice would you give to others applying to IBM?
Focus on your soft skills too, many like to talk about their hard tech focused skills which is fine but what about your communication, your client relationship management, or even your empathy when a client runs into a problem and they're frustrated.
