Fabricator Review

Item: Fabricator at BAE Systems
Rating: 2.8
Author: Anonymous

at BAE Systems

Level 3 Apprenticeship

Engineering

Portsmouth

Review Submitted: April 2026

Overall Rating

2.8 /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!

2.5/5 - Overview of Role

5/5 - 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:

3/5

Fabrication work involves any kind of metalwork on board the navy ships. I mostly work on the Type 45 platform. The roles could range from putting pieces of trim up to cutting holes in the hull of the ship.

To what extent do you enjoy your programme?

2/5

I have been enjoying it less and less as time has gone on. The work itself can be a problem as we are treated as the labourers of the dockyard and if someone cant be bothered to do something they just get us fabricators to do it. My line manager makes it so that every time I have a problem I try and avoid him as he can be very unhelpful and make me feel terrible for something that, most of the time, isn't my fault. He expects every apprentice to be absolutely perfect. So long as the work is real metalwork instead of doing every tiny job for other trades I enjoy the work itself, unfortunately that doesnt happen often

Skills Development

Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?

5/5

When I started I didn't have the first clue about any metalwork. I had some experience with woodwork in secondary school but it didn't really transfer any useful skills over. I am far more confident than I was before.

Structure and Support

How well organised/structured is your programme?

2/5

As I mentioned before, any time I have a problem that involves my line manager he is often unhelpful and insulting.

How much support do you receive from your employer?

3/5

From my managers it would be a 1/5 from my tradespeople its 5/5. Any skills I struggle with my tradespeople are happy to teach me.

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

3/5

There is a lot of emphasis put on getting all of our KSBs (Knowledge Skills and Behaviours) but we are told we need to hit each KSB once but we have to do 1 logbook a week which means we hit the same ones over and over again.

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

3/5

Tradespeople make the effort to ensure that our skills are developing but our managers expect us to be perfect the moment we go out in to the dockyard.

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

1/5

There are but none of them interest me

Recommendations & Advice

Would you recommend BAE Systems to a friend?

Why?

I have not enjoyed myself and there is a constant back and forth with managers and nothing ever gets done in any sort of time frame. If I had a problem I would raise it and be ignored and if it was major it would be sorted a year after whatever happened.