Independent apprenticeship research
Get paid, get qualified and skip the student debt. We show you which employers offer apprenticeships, what they actually pay and what they ask for, all checked against official sources. Nobody pays to be on here.
Popular starting points: Degree apprenticeships Browse industries What is an apprenticeship?
Names and levels differ in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Levels explained
Researching apprenticeships means digging through loads of employer websites and confusing jargon. We do the digging for you, then explain it in plain English, so you can work out what's right for you.
Spotlighted
Employers and guides we think you should know about, each with a reason why. They're our picks, not rankings or adverts, and nobody has paid to be here.
Employer
The UK's public service broadcaster takes on around 200 apprentices a year in production, journalism, engineering, tech and data, and business, from Level 2 to Level 6, paying £24,650 to £26,000.
Why we chose this
Many students assume apprenticeships are mainly in engineering or trades. The BBC shows how wide the range is, and its eligibility rules, such as a minimum age of 18, are worth knowing early.
Guide
England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all run apprenticeships differently. Here's how the names, levels, numbers and official sources compare.
Why we chose this
A lot of apprenticeship advice online quietly assumes England. If you live in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, or near a border, this guide helps you check which rules actually apply to you.
Employer research
The UK's biggest defence company, with around 5,100 apprentices in training and more than 60 UK programmes, from intermediate to degree level, in engineering, manufacturing, business and tech.
A big construction and infrastructure company with apprenticeships at four levels and in 13 areas, from trades and highways maintenance to civil engineering and quantity surveying, lasting two to five years.
The UK's public service broadcaster takes on around 200 apprentices a year in production, journalism, engineering, tech and data, and business, from Level 2 to Level 6, paying £24,650 to £26,000.
A professional services firm with apprenticeships in audit, tax and law, consulting, tech and business admin. Audit apprentices earn £25,500 to £28,000 and become chartered accountants in five years.
Runs the railway tracks, signals and stations across England, Scotland and Wales. It took on 290 apprentices in a year and 1,780 over five years, with Level 3, 4 and 6 programmes in engineering, IT, finance, HR, project management and AI.
Guides
The legal minimum you'll be paid as an apprentice from April 2026, what apprentices actually earn on average, and what the employers we've researched pay.
England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all run apprenticeships differently. Here's how the names, levels, numbers and official sources compare.
What applying for an apprenticeship actually involves, from the first form to the assessment centre, with real examples of how the employers we've researched pick their apprentices.
A practical checklist for looking into an employer before you apply, with real examples and figures that show how much programmes differ.