Rolls-Royce
Power and propulsion engineering, from jet engines to small modular reactors.
About Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce designs and manufactures power systems — civil aero engines, defence propulsion, marine systems and, increasingly, small modular nuclear reactors. If you want to work on hardware that has to survive extreme conditions for decades, this is one of the few UK employers doing it at scale.
The bulk of early-career hiring happens in Derby (civil aerospace) and Bristol (defence), with smaller intakes in Solihull and Glasgow. Apprentices train in dedicated academies alongside experienced engineers rather than being dropped straight onto a line.
It is a large, process-heavy organisation. That means excellent training and genuinely difficult engineering problems, but slower decision-making than a startup. Expect structured rotations, formal sign-off procedures and a strong safety culture.
Rolls-Royce runs one of the biggest apprenticeship programmes in UK engineering and hires roughly as many apprentices as graduates each year — so not having a degree does not close the door here.
Why work here
- The apprenticeship route is treated as a first-class entry path, not a fallback — degree apprentices finish with a funded bachelor's and four years of paid experience.
- Chartership support is real: mentors, a structured competence log and paid IMechE/IET membership towards CEng or IEng.
- Rotations across manufacturing, design and testing mean you can find the part of engineering you actually enjoy before specialising.
- Pay is solid rather than spectacular. You are trading top-of-market salary for depth of training and long-term security.
STEM roles they hire
Entry routes
Engineering Degree Apprenticeship
- Starts
- September
- Duration
- 4–5 years
- Degree needed
- No
- Salary
- £20,000–£24,000 rising yearly
Advanced Apprenticeship (Level 3)
- Starts
- September
- Duration
- 3–4 years
- Degree needed
- No
- Salary
- £18,500 in year one
Graduate Engineering Scheme
- Starts
- September
- Duration
- 2 years
- Degree needed
- Yes
- Salary
- £33,000+
Summer Industrial Placement
- Starts
- June
- Duration
- 12 months
- Degree needed
- Preferred
- Salary
- £20,000 pro rata
Salary and benefits
- Employer-funded degree with no tuition debt on the apprenticeship routes
- Defined-benefit-style pension contributions well above statutory minimum
- Paid professional body membership and chartership mentoring
- Share scheme and annual performance bonus
- Sites are unionised, with structured pay progression
Application tips
- 1.Applications open in the autumn and close as soon as the intake fills — apply in October, not February.
- 2.Their online tests are strengths-based rather than knowledge-based. Answer quickly and consistently rather than trying to guess the 'engineering' answer.
- 3.Bring one concrete build. A repaired bike, a 3D-printed part, a Formula Student subsystem — anything you can talk through in technical detail beats a long list of grades.
- 4.At the assessment centre, safety thinking scores highly. Mention risk, tolerance and failure modes when you explain a design decision.
- 5.Name the site and the business unit you want. Generic 'I love aerospace' answers get marked down against candidates who know the difference between civil and defence propulsion.