Software Engineering Apprenticeship - Level 6

Join the BBC as an apprentice to kick-start your career in a job you'll love. The BBC is committed to your skills and talent development. You’ll learn on-the-job, developing your knowledge and skills in an area that interests you, whilst working towards your apprenticeship qualification with one of their learning providers.

Why Join This Scheme?

As an apprentice within the team, you will be at the heart of the BBC's digital-first world, developing and maintaining the systems that audiences rely on every single day. The code you write helps deliver content across BBC iPlayer, BBC Sounds, breaking news, and live sports events.

Your work directly delights millions of people every week. You will learn to handle the challenge of running services that must be fast, reliable, and available 24/7. You will be working with world-class software engineers to evolve the platform, ensuring the BBC remains at the forefront of digital media.

Platform Evolution Team

Platform Experiences is part of BBC’s WebCore platform. They build, improve, and maintain the frontend and middleware that power BBC products on the web, including BBC News, Sport, and iPlayer. Their work ranges from developing new features and improving user experiences to modernising technology, improving performance and reliability, and making platforms more efficient. They build shared solutions that support multiple BBC products, meaning their work can have an impact on millions of users.

As a Software Engineering Apprentice, you’ll be an active member of a multidisciplinary team, working alongside software engineers, a Software Engineering Team Lead, and colleagues specialising in Product Management, User Experience (UX), and Testing. You will contribute to real projects from the start, gaining hands-on experience building and maintaining frontend and middleware applications using technologies such as React.js, Node.js, Typescript, and AWS. You’ll be involved in the full software development lifecycle, including designing solutions, writing code, participating in peer code reviews, testing, investigating problems, and deploying improvements to BBC products.

You’ll be supported by experienced engineers through mentoring, collaboration, and regular feedback, while developing your technical skills, problem-solving abilities, and confidence in taking ownership of your work.

Media Services Team

As an apprentice in Media Services, you will see your work impact millions by ensuring the flawless delivery of all BBC video and audio online – from live events to podcasts. You will gain direct experience with pioneering cloud technologies operating at massive scale. The supportive environment offers dedicated mentorship and essential professional growth, providing the foundation you need to launch a successful software engineering career.

Your Key Responsibilities and Impact

As a Software Engineer apprentice, you will:

• Gain hands-on experience in the BBC’s software engineering teams responsible for TV, audio, online, and digital platforms.
• Develop your understanding of how the BBC’s existing apps and websites function, covering analysis, design, code, build, test, implementation, and support.
• Develop your knowledge and skills on applying software engineering principles to all stages of the solution development lifecycle, from gathering code and data requirements and ensuring they are secure.
• Gain an understanding of how to ensure the quality and reliability of software through rigorous testing and quality control practices.
• Explore troubleshooting concerns, guided by your team.
• Play a part in complex projects, in alignment with the BBC’s Digital First strategy, from inception to delivery.

You’ll study for your industry-recognised apprenticeship qualification, learning both on-and-off-the-job. Upon successful completion, you will be awarded an Undergraduate Degree (Bachelor of Science with Honours) in Digital and Technology Solutions Professional (Software Engineer pathway) from a UK University. You will be supported to find a job role within the BBC’s Technology or Product delivery teams.

Your Skills and Eligibility

The BBC is interested in your passion for working at the BBC and your enthusiasm for delivering world-class content and operational excellence. They are not focused on your qualifications but look for potential and offer the opportunity to apply transferable strengths and experience.

If you can bring some of these skills and experiences, along with transferable strengths, they encourage you to apply:

• A love of maths and a passion for coding.
• Excitement about embracing the latest AI and Machine Learning technologies.
• Brilliant organisational skills, problem-solving abilities, and negotiation skills.
• Ability to manage multiple deadlines and demands, with a calm and focused approach to changing circumstances.
• A keen interest in the BBC and how people consume content, with fresh ideas to introduce new perspectives.

This scheme is aimed at non-graduates. If you have a degree, please look for other opportunities on the BBC careers site.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for an apprenticeship at the BBC, you must:

• Be 18 years old or over by September 2027.
• Have lived in the UK continuously for the last three years prior to the apprenticeship start.
• Be legally eligible to work full-time in the UK for the entire duration of the apprenticeship.
• Not currently be enrolled in another apprenticeship programme.
• Not already hold a qualification in the same subject area at the same or a higher level than this apprenticeship.

To apply for this scheme, you must also:

• Have maths and English GCSE at Grade 4/C or above (or equivalent).
• Have some experience of coding and/or software engineering (e.g., from an A Level/BTEC course, coding boot camp, or personal projects). A basic coding test will be part of the assessment.

Ready to Apply?

Create a candidate profile and answer a few questions – no CV or cover letter is needed. If you're eligible, you’ll be guided through the next steps. You’ll need to live within a commutable distance of the role’s location. This is a fixed-term apprenticeship for 40 months. Upon completion, you can apply for suitable vacancies at the BBC or in the wider creative industry. You’ll be supported with career development, employability training, and networking opportunities.

Disabled applicants who choose to apply under the Disability Confident Scheme and meet the minimum criteria will normally be progressed to the next stage of the recruitment process.