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Is there a way to search for apprenticeships which require good a levels to enter?

Just finished AS got AABC in chemistry, biology, history and maths respectively and am planning on dropping maths next year.
Have been planning to do chemistry at university but feel like I've unfairly dismissed potentially doing an apprenticeship.
But when searching on apprenticeship.org I found about 2 science based apprenticeships which required 3 a levels and all the others just wanting a C in maths and english GCSE.
So if anyone could give me any pointers in my search for good science apprenticeships I'd appreciate it.

Reply 1

Jdizzle15

reply pls or op will cry his way to uni for sure

Reply 2

Runninground

Try googling 'Training Schemes' or 'School Leaver Programmes' instead of apprenticeships.

Apprenticeships have an image of being for people who weren't very good in school and want a hands on manual labour job, so a lot of companies that employ you, train you and pay for your training call them Training schemes or school leaver programmes.

What kind of thing are you looking for? notgoingtouni.co.uk is a good one for searching for apprenticeships.

Reply 3

Jdizzle15

Original post by Runninground

Hmm interesting will check website later.
Looking probably for something science based but am fairly open minded. Found one good science one which I will check up on next year but there must be more...just tricky to find.

Reply 4

theike

"getmyfirstjob.co.uk" is a good website for apprenticeships and is simple to use. I did not research for science-based apprenticeships but I did have an interview in the bank UBS in City as they were looking for apprentices. Unfortunately, because of my extremely poor maths skills I did not get the role but was happy to get that far. For the UBS apprenticeship (which was for wealth management) 1200 people applied and I think 60 had the opportunity to be interviewed. So I was with a lot of other people performing groups tasks, maths tests and Q&A. It seemed to be a respectable apprenticeship as the recruitment stage was competitive and the bank was huge and seemed like an amazing place to work in. The apprenticeships did require A levels (3 Bs) and the recruiter that was the link between potential candidates and UBS was "BPP professional".

I don't recommend you drop maths because although it is difficult, I found that one of the main reasons I did not get some job roles and some good apprenticeship roles was due to my poor maths skills.

Reply 5

qwerty457

I was in the same situation as regards to going to university so I feel for you.
Science apprenticeships at A level entry are hard to come by as most science based jobs will require an undergraduate degree as a minimum.

Your best bet, as suggested by others, is the apply for a finance, engineering, or management school leaver scheme as they like people with good A level results especially in the sciences who are not going to university. These roles are often very well paid with good career prospects.

Some examples are:
The big four accountants; KPMG, EY, PwC, and Deloitte. All programmes are around 5 years long with a starting salary of 20-22k increasing each year as you pass exams

The National Audit office; they do the same work as the big four just with central government. I got offered a place on their school leaver scheme which is much smaller than the others only about 8 people a year with a starting salary of 23.5k

Loads of insurance and finance companies now offering apprenticeships.
The best place to look for finance based ones is http://www.investment2020.co.uk/trainee/sponsors/
And of course always check apprenticeships.org

The civil service are opening a large amount of apprenticeship roles these include https://www.gov.uk/civil-service-apprenticeships and if you select apprenticeships on their general vacancies page https://www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/jobs.cgi you can see some more

These are just a few employers who are seeking post 18 students who would in previous years have gone to university so you have a good chance of getting a job.

The ones that I can think of include- Transport for London- who I work for!, Post Office, BT, Virgin Media, Capgemini, IBM, Bank of America, Bank of England, Lloyd's of London, Ford, Lloyd's Bank, Barclays, Marks and Spencers, Pret a Manger, Jaguar Land Rover, Royal Bank of Scotland, BDO, Nestle, Grant Thornton, Mazars, Nomura Bank, MBDA, Visa, Rolls Royce, Network Rail, Boots, National Grid, Allianz, Mondelez International, Close Brothers, Santander, Skanska, and Henderson's

Check them all out as I was initially looking at science but found other that were far more interesting and better paid.
Hope that helps :smile:

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Reply 6

Nina2000Nina

Original post by theike

Hi there, I am applying for UBS apprenticeship. Is there anyway you could help me with the process please. Been applying to apprenticeships for a while and could really use the help! Thanks! N

Reply 7

ErasistratusV

I would start the other way and work backwards.

You need to work out what kind of work you wish to do, then find companies that are involved in this.

Next, write to them saying you are interested in a career in X and are looking to complete voluntary work with them. If you are keen enough, they will see that and it will mushroom from there.

You do not need to go to university and obtain £30,000 worth of debt to get a good career.