Electronic and Communication Engineering Degree Apprentice

Summary

As an Electronic and Communication Engineering Degree Apprentice, you'll support critical defence projects while completing our 6-year Embedded Electronic Systems Design and Development Engineer Degree Apprenticeship and working towards a BEng (Hons) Electronic and Computer Engineering Degree.

Wage

£23,776 a year

Training course

Embedded electronic systems design and development engineer (degree) (level 6)

Hours

Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm

35 hours a week

Start date

Wednesday 1 September 2027

Duration

6 years

Positions available

3

Work

Most of your apprenticeship is spent working. You’ll learn on the job by getting hands-on experience.

What you'll do at work

• Working in a discipline of such fundamental importance means your work will be both varied and impactful. Throughout the programme, you’ll help develop and support systems that enable our customers to communicate securely in demanding and remote environments. This could involve supporting electronic design, development, testing and component level repair, solving technical challenges unique to the defence sector.
• You’ll collaborate closely with experienced colleagues across design, software, mechanical and electrical engineering, as well as project management, quality and supply chain teams. Along the way, you’ll strengthen your engineering skills by working with stakeholders, understanding business and customer requirements, identifying risks, and ensuring key deliverables are met.
• We encourage mobility across our organisation to help broaden your experience. During the programme, there may be opportunities to undertake placements at different UK locations, including Bristol, Devonport, Ashchurch, Corsham and sites in Hampshire, giving you exposure to a range of teams, projects and operational environments while building a broader understanding of our business.

Where you'll work

Bristol, GB
BS3 2HQ

Training

Apprenticeships include time away from working for specialist training. You’ll study to gain professional knowledge and skills.

Training provider

UNIVERSITY OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE

Training course

Embedded electronic systems design and development engineer (degree) (level 6)

What you'll learn

Course contents

• Design functional electronic systems and circuits from component level
• Utilise modern CAD technology to implement circuit design with understanding of considerations for heat dissipation, electrical interference and other industry specific considerations affecting layout
• Write and document structured code to comply with industry norms and to allow others to understand and subsequently maintain/modify the code
• Utilise modelling techniques for circuit design, embedded software development and thermal management
• Ability to demonstrate an understanding of the principles and practice of design for market, design for manufacturability, design for testability and design for maintainability
• Ability to develop a test plan for a product that they have developed
• Ability to explain the process by which a product is introduced into production, including what aspects are discussed at what stage and with whom and how development gateways work
• Ability to develop a basic project plan including resource planning, time planning, use of contingencies etc. Also techniques for predicting pinch points and strategies for timescale recovery
• Awareness of international standards and compliance requirements for the products designed by the employer. Ability to discuss the differences between legislative and non-legislative requirements
• Ability to demonstrate knowledge of basic business fundamentals including costs, overheads, gross margin, net margin, profit, and cash
• Ability to demonstrate awareness and understanding of basic health and safety principles both in the general workplace and specific to electronic circuit design

Training schedule

You'll study part-time over the course of the apprenticeship, with the first three years based at Gloucestershire College's Cheltenham Campus and the final two years at UWE Bristol's Filton Campus. The academic element is delivered over 60 months, with the remaining time focused on completing your End Point Assessment and preparing for your transition into an engineering role.

Alongside your studies, you'll spend four days a week working within the business, developing your technical knowledge and applying your learning to live projects.

Throughout the programme, you'll develop knowledge and experience in areas including:

• Professional engineering skills
• Electrical circuit theory
• Mathematical modelling techniques for circuit design
• Analogue and digital design techniques
• Digital Signal Processing
• Fundamentals of structured software design
• Structured programming for embedded software
• Embedded software development

Upon successful completion of the apprenticeship, you'll achieve a BEng (Hons) in Electronic and Computer Engineering.

Requirements

Essential qualifications

GCSE in:

• Engineering (grade C)
• English (grade C)
• Maths (grade C)
• Science (grade C)
• Technology (grade C)

A Level in:

• Maths (grade C)
• Science (grade C)

Share if you have other relevant qualifications and industry experience. The apprenticeship can be adjusted to reflect what you already know.

Skills

• IT skills
• Attention to detail
• Organisation skills
• Problem solving skills

Other requirements

A full driving licence is required for this role, as it requires frequent travel to multiple sites where no reasonable alternative transport is practical.

Many of our programmes are subject to Security Clearance and Trade Control restrictions which mean that your place of birth, nationality, citizenship, or residency you hold or have held may impact which programmes you are eligible for. For this programme, you must be able to achieve and maintain Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS), Security Check (SC) and Developed Vetting (DV) security clearance. For further details, visit GOV.UK and search ‘United Kingdom Security Vetting: clearance levels’. 
Under applicable national security legislation, this post may only be occupied by a sole UK national. This legal requirement is independent of our recruitment policies, and all eligible applicants will be assessed fairly and without discrimination.