Applications are now closed.
You can register your interest for 2026 here.
Start your career with an employer who genuinely wants to invest in you and work with you to develop your potential.
You’ll get started on a salary of £16,750 a year – meaning you’ll be earning from day one. Our advanced apprenticeships are a the first step of your career with us – from there, you can pursue a variety of roles.
You’ll get to join our mission, helping us with our purpose to protect the UK. You will get to work on projects that are totally unique; no one else delivers what we do.
Make sure you only apply for one apprenticeship role. We encourage you to take the time to reflect on which apprenticeship you feel matches your aspirations and motivations. You can use our Match Me tool to help you decide.
When you make your application, you can less us know if you would like to be considered for up to two alternative apprenticeships should your application for your original choice is unsuccessful.
If you already hold an equivalent qualification to the Level 3 you are applying for, or a qualification that is similar then please email us at [email protected] to find out if you can apply.
What are the benefits?
– You’ll spend every day contributing to a safe and secure future by joining our mission
– Access to top-class facilities
– Be mentored and guided by world-leading specialists and industry experts
– You’ll get hands-on experience that will set you up with the practical skills you need to succeed
– Earn while you learn; you’ll earn £16,750 per annum
Explore opportunities
Control and Instrumentation (C&I)
(C&I) is one of the critical professions at AWE, playing a vital role in our mission to keep the nation safe and secure.
Put simply, C&I engineers develop and maintain systems that monitor and adjust different aspects of complex operations, such as the flow of water, or the temperature of a room, or the controlling and operating of our Orion LASER system. Your role will involve creating, simplifying, and automating these processes to ensure they function safely & seamlessly at the touch of a button.
When do applications open?
Applications reopen in Autumn 2025
What are the eligibility requirements?
– You must be a British Citizen to apply
– Five GCSE’s at Grade 4/C or above to include Maths and English
– You must be 16+ when you join us
Information Communication Technician
An Information Communication Technician Apprentice provides support to everyone in the company, helping them to be productive when using technology to do their own jobs, by using tools to problem solve and troubleshoot non-routine problems.
ICT technicians configure and maintain the systems which provide the infrastructure services to the company when they need it, rectifying issues to ensure the organization’s productivity.
As part of your apprenticeship, you will move through several placements across the company from networking and cyber security to virtualisation and telecommunications.
When do applications open?
Applications reopen in Autumn 2025
What are the eligibility requirements?
– You must be a British Citizen to apply
– Five GCSE’s at Grade 4/C or above to include Maths and English
– You must be 18+ when you join us
Electrical Maintenance
The first part of your training will be spent in our award-winning Skills Academy, where you learn electrical theory, cabling and wiring infrastructure.
You will then go on to individually produce around 20 small projects, where you will be involved in designing, installing, repairing and maintaining electrical systems.
When do applications open?
Applications reopen in Autumn 2025
What are the eligibility requirements?
– You must be a British Citizen to apply
– Five GCSE’s at Grade 4/C or above to include Maths and English
– You must be 16+ when you join us
Operations
As an Operations Apprentice you will have a unique opportunity to work in a variety of placements around our business. You will spend the first few weeks of your apprenticeship in the AWE’s Skills Academy before moving out into placements within the operations environment.
Your learning will be both hands on making components and office based where you will gain an understanding of the processes and procedures we follow in order to remain compliant with site safety.
When do applications open?
Applications reopen in Autumn 2025
What are the eligibility requirements?
– You must be a British Citizen to apply
– Five GCSE’s at Grade 4/C or above to include Maths and English – a Science is desirable but not mandatory
– You must be 18+ when you join us
Project Controls
As a Project Controls Apprentice your role will include supporting the four key areas of Project Controls – Cost Engineering, Planning, Estimating and, Risk. You will initially be based within the Skills Academy for induction, where you will develop your basic knowledge and people skills, before progressing on to the onsite aspect of your training. At this point you will start to develop and apply your core skills on placement in a live working environment.
When do applications open?
Applications reopen in Autumn 2025
What are the eligibility requirements?
– You must be a British Citizen to apply
– Five GCSE’s at Grade 4/C or above to include Maths and English
– You must be 16+ when you join us
Mechatronic Maintenance
This role includes servicing, repairing and installing various Mechanical, Electrical, Electronic, Hydraulic and Programmable Logic Control (PLC) systems.
These are all commonly used on our sites to support our Machine Tools department and Trials & Test Technology Centre.
When do applications open?
Applications reopen in Autumn 2025
What are the eligibility requirements?
– You must be a British Citizen to apply
– Five GCSE’s at Grade 4/C or above to include Maths and English
– You must be 16+ when you join us
Human Resources
Human Resources (HR) is a function in AWE, that directly provides services and support to our Workforce, that enable people to carry out their jobs effectively and make the most of their time at AWE.
On the HR Apprenticeship, you will gain skills and knowledge in several areas of the HR Function on a variety of placements. You can expect to be doing a variety of activities such as inputting data, liaising with employees and managers by phone & email, attending meetings, updating documents, research to solve business problems and supporting the case management team with administration duties.
When do applications open?
Applications reopen in Autumn 2025
What are the eligibility requirements?
– You must be a British Citizen to apply
– Five GCSE’s at Grade 4/C or above to include Maths and English
– You must be 18+ when you join us
Quality Inspector
As a Quality apprentice you will initially be based within the onsite training facility, where you will develop your basic knowledge and core skills, before progressing on to the onsite aspect of your training.
You will learn how to interpret requirements directly from drawings, and inspect various mechanical and electrical components.
When do applications open?
Applications reopen in Autumn 2025
What are the eligibility requirements?
– You must be a British Citizen to apply
– Five GCSE’s at Grade 4/C or above to include Maths and English
– You must be 16+ when you join us
Lab Technician (Physics)
Experimental Physics at AWE involves the study of unusual materials in extreme conditions.
You will spend the first few weeks of your apprenticeship in the AWE’s Skills Academy before moving out into placements within the business.
Placements range from working with high power lasers to diagnosing high explosives. During your placements you will undertake and complete various laboratory-based projects which will enable you to develop a complete set of skills and knowledge required to work successfully at AWE.
When do applications open?
Applications reopen in Autumn 2025
What are the eligibility requirements?
– You must be a British Citizen to apply
– Five GCSE’s at Grade 4/C or above to include Maths and English
– You must be 18+ when you join us
Mechanical Maintenance
The first part of your training will involve learning the basics of hand tools before moving onto the operations of machines such as pillar drills and lathes.
You will pick up a variety of skills including setting up rigs, maintenance and set up of basic pipe fittings, and making crank sets and frost coils. Other tasks will include disassembling and reassembling equipment such as vacuum pumps.
When do applications open?
Applications reopen in Autumn 2025
What are the eligibility requirements?
– You must be a British Citizen to apply
– Five GCSE’s at Grade 4/C or above to include Maths and English
– You must be 16+ when you join us
CAD Technician
A CAD Technician is involved in producing engineering designs and drawings for components, control & instrumentation systems, to name a few.
The first part of your training will be spent in the award-winning skills academy whilst also attending a local college.
You will then undertake focused professional placements across the business.
When do applications open?
Applications for our CAD Technician apprenticeship roles are now closed and will reopen in Autumn 2025
What are the eligibility requirements?
– You must be a British Citizen to apply
– Five GCSE’s at Grade 4/C or above to include Maths and English and a 5/B in Science
– You must be 16+ when you join us
Want to find out more about our apprenticeships?
Use our Connectr app to find out about events we’re running, support available to you and you can even ask questions to members of the team, including managers and former apprentices.