Advanced Apprentice Designer Review

Item: Advanced Apprentice Designer at BAE Systems
Rating: 4.4
Author: Anonymous

at BAE Systems

Higher Level Apprenticeship

Engineering

Barrow-in-Furness

Review Submitted: April 2026

Overall Rating

4.4 /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 - Overview of Role

5/5 - Skills Development

4.4/5 - Structure and Support

Overview of Role

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

4/5

An overview on my role is that i do as a second year apprentice is engineering drawings which can include multiple things such as drawings, models and document work. I do multiple different placements around the business which helps me to gain knowledge and experience and spend around 5 months on each. This means i learn lots of new skills and knowledge.

To what extent do you enjoy your programme?

4/5

I enjoy my programme quite a lot due to the experiences it gives me, i am able to do other things/activities such as STEM and stretch event to help build personal skills which i can link to within work. It also gives me the opportunity to be able to work with lots of different people and allows me to advance my learning as you also have options to further educate yourself.

Skills Development

Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?

5/5

I learn lots of new skills through my job always gaining experience by learning new things and being on multiple placements. As well as having lots of opportunities to develop my skills whether there existing or not with other things such as Stretch, STEM and education.

Structure and Support

How well organised/structured is your programme?

4/5

The programme is quite well structured, sometimes things can be left a little to last minute but it is well structured and placements are always planned out ahead. Placements often have training packs to complete and always have someone able to help you with work or tasks. We have many ways we can track progress which allows us to see how we have advanced our skills and knowledge this is with things such as; 12 week reviews, skills scans, behaviour matrix, off the job tracker and other things which you do during your apprenticeship.

How much support do you receive from your employer?

5/5

We receive lots of support from our employer as we are provided with skills coaches which help us with any issues or concerns we have. As well as tracking our progress and helping us achieve things we want too. We also have people who provide support on each team/placement by helping us with work or tasks when we need help.

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

4/5

We are supported by our training provider when working towards qualifications as we are provided with resources and help when needed during HNC and Degree work.

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

4/5

I feel my qualifications help me perform better in my role due to the engineering side of it especially the materials in science as a lot of it relates to my job as using lots of different materials all the time. An example is that materials can react with one another so learning about this may prevent it happening within my job using two materials that may not work together. It also gives me the opportunity to advance my skills and 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.)

5/5

There is lots of extra activities to get involved in, whether this is stretch or STEM which can be working with schools or doing event days, or helping with open days etc. You can also help out doing large scale meetings, presentation days or the women in engineering or new intake apprentices.

Recommendations & Advice

Would you recommend BAE Systems to a friend?

Yes

Why?

I would recommend BAE to a friend due to the amount of opportunities you have with skills development and advancing knowledge and education, as well as the schemes they provide within pension schemes and the shares contributions. They are also focused on helping apprentices as much as possible and there is many people you can go to for work and help if needed which is a good support network within the business.

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

Some tips and advice i would give to people applying to BAE is to be yourself cause they arent only looking for good grades or past jobs they want to know the type of person you are. But for interviews from an apprentice viewpoint coming straight from school i would focus on your experiences which could relate to the eight behaviours to talk about and go to the open days and women in engineering etc to know more about the business and the type of work we do.

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