I'm a Degree Apprentice - AMA

How do these work? Do you need any formal qualifications to get on to these before you start, like you normally do with uni courses?

How do these work? Do you need any formal qualifications to get on to these before you start, like you normally do with uni courses?

[sopiler] taking it on 25th 😁 got to pass before summer thanks. do you think 17k would be enough to live in Reading where my apprenticeship is

It should do. The salary provided by any apprenticeship provider is supposed to be enough to live on.

I know people who are coping to live in London who are earning even less than that.

I wish we had the opportunity to undertake group projects with other apprentices from different companies - but most of our lectures/tutorials are just our apprentices only. We have one module where we are with other apprentices from firms like Barclays, Network Rail, Ford etc. and the standalone University students. I'm not sure whether I've been given the same amount of study time as what I would get in the final year? I've been given 25 hours of study time for this academic year. What kind of coursework have you been given so far in the course? And what sorts of tasks do you do in your role?

The commute to university is OK I guess, I'm getting used to it. I must admit the University day is incredibly long though, 9 to 6 with 2 hour long lectures and 1 hour and 30-minute long tutorials - 2 lectures and 2 tutorials in one day.

Inspired by @brainzistheword thread.

I've been a degree apprentice for 4 months now at a top 10 global management consultancy firm. I originally had a Conditional Offer to study Computer Science at The University Of Kent but decided to take the degree apprenticeship route instead.

Ask me anything!!!

That's a very specific amount of study time. I get a day-release per week and 2-days every 10 weeks for a course at the training centre. Levy rules state that at least 20% of your time should be allocated to learning, so I guess that's brought in with your lectures.

So far I've completed a Systems Development module and moving onto a Data Communications and Networking module. I've had a 3000-word assignment and an exam on my last module and so far it hasn't been that bad. We have a work-based project to complete throughout the year so I'm doing as much as I can on that before we start the next module.

My role is in testing so that involves identifying test conditions, writing test scripts and executing tests on the system. It's quite interesting learning about different systems and the technologies and applications they use.

Very long days. Hope you are taking as much in from all those lectures and tutorials. What are your assessment methods?

what made you into technology btw - btw i consider myself nerdy as well and i study IT Level 3 at college

Well, I studied computing/IT at sixth form which inspired me to go into a career in technology as I enjoyed the topics that I studied i.e Object-Oriented Programming, Web development etc. Not to mention it's an evolving industry which isn't going to go away anytime soon (Stability reasons), there are many jobs in the job market which are going to disappear due to automation, but jobs specifically in the technology industry aren't really going to go away in the next five years

How well did your CV look to get onto the scheme? How were your A-Level results?

thats cool - also guess what

What?

My assessment methods are coursework, examinations and practicals. In our tutorials, we also do tasks which contribute to our final grade, for example, we had to create a mini bank account program which was worth 2 marks.

Oh okay. So far I've only had coursework and examinations. I didn't realise those were the sort of practicals that go towards your grade.

I've only just realised from seeing your post on another thread that you travel every week to Germany. That's quite a commitment, especially with the travel time you are putting into it. Do you get travel time from the company, so you can come back home earlier on Friday and leave later on the Tuesday?

Last year I worked at another site and had to travel and stay in hotels for several weeks, and I found it hard to work on my assignments and do activities after work. What sorts of things do you do in your free time in Germany? How have you managed to do your degree work, while trying to maintaining a good work/life balance?

Apart from managing work and travelling, what else has been a challenge since starting your apprenticeship?

Very difficult question...

I'd probably say establishing a good relationship with my lecturers.

Yeah, I do get travel time. I think I mentioned it earlier in this thread, but I usually travel Tuesday Morning (8 am or 10 am) and come back Thursday afternoon (1 pm) - then work from the main office on Friday, OR I just come back on Friday. I'm based in Germany until April.

I also find it hard managing travelling and managing university work. I don't do anything in my free-time as there's hardly anytime besides lunchtime, but there are two other apprentices that also come with me to Germany, so we all walk together to the office (Like a 20 min walk from our hotel) and just take pictures on our way there. We did stop at a random Museum on our way back to the hotel which we thought it would be quite interesting to visit as it was free but it turned out to be a Museum about Children

Til this day I am SHOCKED that I managed to finish all my coursework by the deadline in December, specifically the website project that I previously mentioned, as I did that project on my Home laptop instead of my Work laptop, so there was no opportunity for me to do some of it in Germany. I would say study leave and creating a timetable to fit university work in has helped me maintain a work/life balance like I still can do some things that I used to do in sixth form, i.e. Hang out with friends, read books etc. - what about you? How have you managed to do your degree work whilst trying to maintaining a work-life balance?