Apprentice Software Developer Review

The first few years are spent balancing university while learning basic software engineering skills, such as picking up small bug fixing tasks, working with more senior developers. As you move on to the 3rd and 4th year of the apprenticeship more sterotypical scrum team work is assigned.

Since starting the apprenticeship I have gained skills in the following - Java, Java testing, Java frameworks, software development lifecycle, AWS,

I think its important to note, while the apprenticeship is by far the best solution if you are interested in obtaining a University degree while earning more than most normal jobs, it is not easy. You will be be balancing a lot of different pieces of work and deadlines which may result in a lot of stress. That being said the support the apprenticeship team in Barclays provide helps you manage this and with the healthcare in the company providing free therapy, it can really reduce stress. I enjoyed the program because I achieved a University degree, learned a lot of skills and got paid a very good wage. If you are up for the challenge it is definitely worth it.

The first and second year of the program is structured by monthly 1:1 meetings with the apprenticeship team. On top of this you are giving an "apprentice passport" containing guides, timelines and objectives for you to complete. In terms of University structure, this may have changed by now however the first year and second year runs in 2 week blocks with only the Thursday and Friday back in work. This can pose some problems if you are working on work projects however, once you reach third and fourth year it follows a traditional university timetable

Barclays provides a lot of flexibility for the program. Most managers are aware of it and have experience managing apprentices therefore they are very understandable when it comes to giving time off to study, attend exams, take mental health breaks etc.

I dont know if it comes from the training provider directly as Barclays has their own internal apprenticeship team which provide support in the forms of meetings and the apprentice passport etc.

Lots of things learned from university can be applied in the workplace. My favorite was the "replacement" of a traditional dissertation with a workplace report. This aims to really encourage you to take a project in work and develop it over the space of a year to write a 40 page report on. This felt a lot easier than a traditional dissertation and if you end up with a good work project it can actually help teach a lot.

I havent attended any so I cant speak for how well organised they are however, the Barclays Glasgow campus is always running some sort of event on a daily or weekly basis.

Yes

The sad but realistic part of traditional University degrees is a lot of people struggle to find jobs in their field. By doing this apprenticeship you have this safety net of a guaranteed job as long as you put the work in. On top of that there is a hybrid WFH approach meaning you only need to spend 2 days in the office, and when you do the campus is extremely nice and well equipped. The biggest benefit about the apprenticeship is the pay. Don't expect apprentice minimum wage because you get far above it. To be transparent as I know a lot of people reading this care mainly about the pay it can start off in 1st year around £1300 a month and increase up to £2100 a month by 4th year. This includes large bonuses yearly that range between £500-1200

Seriously consider how well you handle stress and academics before applying. Balancing a full time job and a full University degree is not easy and it will most likely be a very stressful four years. However, in the long run it is definitely worth it.