Level 3 (Advanced)

Electrical Maintenance

The first part of your training will be spent in the 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.

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.

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.

Mechatronic Maintenance

This role includes servicing, repairing and installing various Mechanical, Electrical, Electronic, Hydraulic and Programmable Logic Control (PLC) systems, all of which are commonly used onsite to support the Machine Tools department and Trials & Test Technology Centre.

Precision Machining

Precision Machining is the manufacturing of components on various machines.

During the first part of your training as a precision machining apprentice you will learn basic machining and hand fitting skills through a series of supervised machining tasks, in which you will manufacture a number of useful engineering tools.

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.

Control and Instrumentation (C&I)

Control and Instrumentation (C&I) is one of the critical professions at AWE, playing a vital role in our mission to keep the nation safe and secure. As a C&I engineer, you will work on systems that measure and control various processes essential to our operations.

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.

Control and Instrumentation – Tech Author

Technical Authors are the specialists who generate written instructions on how to perform all kinds of technical tasks in a safe, controlled way.  At AWE the role of a Technical Author involves producing documentation that explains how to safely build, support and service the UK’s nuclear deterrent.  To enable you to understand the technology you will be writing about, you will spend three years studying Control and Instrumentation (C&I).  C&I is one of only two ‘critical trades’ at AWE and is vital to the success of our mission.  Put simply, C&I engineers enable a wide range of different automated processes to run.

Operations Apprentice

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.

Information Communications Technician

An Information Communication Technician (ICT) provides support to customers, helping them to be productive when using technology to do their own jobs, by using tools to problem solve and troubleshoot non-routine problems.

As part of your apprenticeship, you will move through several placements across the company from Networking and Cyber Security to Coding and Servers.

Project Controls

As a project controls apprentice your role will include supporting the four key areas of business management- Cost Engineering, Planning, Estimating and Project Controls whilst rotating through various programmes around the business.

You will gain an understanding of: Projects Structures – WBS, CBS, OBS, schedule development, baseline management, performance measurement and analysis, business rhythm, cost forecasting and variance analysis.

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.