Digital and Technology Solutions Degree Apprentice Review

I spend 4 weeks in the office for every week at university. When I attend uni, I attend lectures from 9-4 each day where I study modules that are important for software engineering. So far, I have studied Programming, Applied Maths and Business Skills in the 7 months I have been here. When I am working at JLR, I get involved with projects with my team where I create solutions to problems to help develop the infotainment systems of the cars.

Since starting at JLR, I have spent 3 months full time at uni where I developed my programming skills to be ready to work at industry standard. I worked on projects in uni that would prepare me for my JLR projects. Since starting working in the office in January, I have worked on a project related to sourcing and filtering CAN data where the results are stored on the cloud and I have also created a program that monitored AWS EC2 instance costs and sent the reports to the user via slack. These projects really helped me to gain confidence to work at industry standard as I am creating real programs that will be used by real customers.

I really enjoy my apprenticeship as I believe I am well supported by my JLR team and the lecturers at uni to reach my full potential, I develop my skills largely at work while learning the theory at uni. The apprenticeship has the flexibility to allow me to pick the projects I want to do so I have tailored it to fit what I enjoy and what I would like to be in the future.

The degree side of the program is well organised as modules are set out from the beginning, this could be improved however if the module leaders had a bit more of a clear view of how the degree will be set out in the future. They often ask for feedback though and seem to be implementing it well. The JLR side is very flexible with projects that can be picked by your manager and you. This side's structure is dependent on which manager and team you are given. There doesn't seem to be a common structure for all apprentices.

I have a really supportive team where every member of the team helps me to achieve my goals and teach me the skills and methods to create efficient solutions. My manager supports me for all sides of the apprenticeship, I am given extra help to complete my coursework and study for my exams.

The lecturers are very friendly and very responsive to messages when I ask for help and clarification, they also often run extra help sessions when we are struggling. We have been given a apprentice tutor who is the link between uni and work, we have meetings with him every 6 weeks. In between these meetings, you can ask for help from the department staff or your apprentice tutor but you don't always get a response.

I think my degree fits in well with the work I complete in the office, as I learn the theory and then put it into practice at work. My manager tries to give me projects that complement what I am studying at the time at uni. However, I sometimes feel that university is not working at the same speed that we learn at work, maybe this is because we learn faster and better in an apprentice position than we would as normal students but this could be improved to ensure the uni work is the correct level of challenging.

The university treats us like normal students meaning we are able to join societies and go to all the university events, I am part of the skiing, surfing, climbing and pride societies and I go to most of the events for all of these. JLR does have networks for things such as pride and women in engineering, etc. I am part of the pride network for JLR as well and they run events which I try to go to.

Yes

JLR's degree apprenticeships were voted the best apprenticeships in the UK, they have an amazing and impressive training provider (Warwick Uni) which you do not get with most other apprenticeships. The course is very challenging and supportive as well as social and inclusive meaning I have a good mix in my life.

Be a team player and have strong motivation for what you want to do. Do research into the company and be familiar with their products and sales tactics. Show your technical skills and that you are willing to put extra effort in. Most importantly, your personality and effort matters more than skills, you can learn skills but you can't learn how to be a people person.