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Electronic and Communication Engineering Degree Apprentice
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Electronic and Communication Engineering Degree Apprentice
Location: Bristol, GB (BS3 2HQ)
Closing Date: Monday 7 December 2026
Posted on: 15 October 2026
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
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
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 Details
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
- 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
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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
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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)
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.
- Must be able to achieve and maintain Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS), Security Check (SC) and Developed Vetting (DV) security clearance.
About this employer
Babcock is an international defence, aerospace and security company operating in our focus countries of the UK, Australasia, Canada, France and South Africa, with exports to additional markets with potential to become focus countries. We meet our customers’ key requirements of affordability, availability, and capability by delivering engineering, support and critical systems to defence and civil markets.
Company Benefits
- Fully funded qualification
- Personal development training and opportunities
- 28 days holiday allowance including bank holidays
- Competitive pension scheme
- Employee share scheme
- Flexible benefits
- Disability Confident
After this apprenticeship
Your earnings can increase over time with an apprenticeship. Find out about potential future pay. It’s hard to beat the variety of fantastic opportunities and business experiences you’ll receive. You can expect real world encounters and exposure to exciting projects that will really help you navigate where you want to take your career. Plus, when you join us, you’ll be automatically enrolled onto our Apprentice Development Programme. Through a series of digital and face to face sessions, presented by wellbeing and performance experts and our external partners, we will equip you with the knowledge and tools you need to thrive and perform at your very best on your programme and beyond.
Ask a question
The contact for this apprenticeship is: UNIVERSITY OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE
The reference code for this apprenticeship is VAC2000058761.
Apply now
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