Design Engineering Graduate Apprentice Review

My current role is a mechanical engineering apprentice which involves the design and production of parts for complex engineering assemblies. My role is to also conduct failure analysis and suggest and make improvements to existing designs to enhance our products. I work as a mechanical engineer for 4 days and have 1 day for university work.

As well as enhancing my theoretical knowledge of engineering principles through university, i have also been able to apply these to my placement work which gives me a full understanding. I can also reverse this and apply any of my work based learning to my university learning to show that i can apply my skills and knowledge in the workspace.

I really enjoy the graduate apprenticeship program as i feel very valued by my company and i am given all the tools i need to get the most out of my apprenticeship. I would recommend GA programs over traditional university to any engineering student as it eliminates the skills gap that can be faced at the end of the degree.

the 60/40 split between placement work and university is the perfect balance needed to comfortably manage the workload. There are bi weekly meetings with apprentice training officers which means you are kept in the loop with any buisness updates as well as given plenty of opertunities to feedback on progress or concerns.

Leonardo offers an excellent range of support to apprentices. The salary for a GA is very good and the work/life balance leonardo offers is very helpful as you can chose your hours and take flexi days when needed. The benefits scheme is also very good as employees recieve £500 a year to spend on themselves for health and wellbeing.

The university course is structured really well in the form of 3 modules running throughout the academic year one per term. This is great because it means you can learn all of the content then just do the exam and assessments afterwards. Its much better than having to do end of year exams.

I think that learning the nessisary engineering theory from university is very important for us to apply this to our work based learning. Its good that the university learning is broad as some of the on site work is so specialised that it would be tricky for the university to cover it in the course.

There is a Leonardo apprentice social comitee who organise events for apprentices across all years. There are also sports activities to get involved with as well as countless STEM activities which all apprentices are encouraged to get involved with. The social comitee organised nights out as well as fun activities.

Yes

As Leonardo has been facilitating apprenticeships for decades there is a tried and tested method which works really well for all the apprenticeships. It feels like the perfect transition from high school to the working world and that you are constantly supported through your apprenticeship. Everyone at Leonardo is very friendly.

Make yourself stand out. Make sure you list any hobbies you have, especially if they are unique! Make sure you try your best to get work experience in the industry you want to work in and try to find out as much about the company and apprenticeship as you can.