Q&A: All About Apprenticeships at bp

Q&A: bp Apprenticeship Opportunities 2023/24

On the 28 November 2023, we hosted an online webinar discussing bp's apprenticeship opportunities. During the event we had over 220 attendees and loads of insightful questions in the chat. bp has kindly answered every single question that was asked during the event. Keep reading to dive a little deeper into the apprenticeship world at bp!

Click here to watch the webinar!

Question: Are apprentices and graduates basically on the same training scheme?

No, apprentices will work in the business 4 days a week and complete a formal qualification by attending learning with an external provider one day a week (maybe a different make-up, but the work/study split will be 80/20).
Graduates join with their education complete and work a full-time job straight away
Apprentices join on a fixed term contract whereas graduates join on a permanent contract
Apprentice schemes can be 2 or 4 years whereas the graduate scheme is 3 years
There are some similarities such as degree apprentices rotating between departments/roles as graduates do
All apprentices and graduates form part of our early careers community and many events, and learning opportunities will be shared between both groups

Question: What specific areas of engineering do you guys focus on?

At the moment, we only have Aviation Safety - which follows the product design and development engineering pathway
We also have Service Engineering in the Digital Space
More areas may open up in the future

Question: Do apprenticeships provide accommodation?

No. Although all roles come with a £3,000 settling in allowance paid with first salary, which can be used towards accommodation costs

Question: Are there degree apprenticeships specifically for marketing available?

Not specifically for this year.
Although, some of our roles will have elements of marketing, and we have had some roles with a higher focus on marketing

Question: What tech degree apprenticeship schemes do you offer?

bp Data Analytics Degree Apprenticeship - Sunbury
bp Data & Insights Specialist Foundation Apprenticeship - Milton Keynes

Question: When is the deadline to apply for an apprenticeship?

Currently we expect our roles to be open through January but we may close any opportunities early if we have a strong pipeline

Question: Which University will be awarding the Degree Apprenticeship?

That depends on the individual apprenticeship!

Question: How is the overall process assessed? Is every stage taken into account?

The steps are outlined on our website and in the downloadable 'hints and tips' document.
Each stage is assessed individually, and some candidates will be dispositioned after each stage. But those candidates who get through to the next stage will be viewed as a whole across all successful stages.
The assessment centre is the final stage of assessment, and more candidates than available positions will be invited to that stage

Question: What is the ratio of applicants per place, and how many get through each stage?

Very much depends on the programme, but our apprenticeships are competitive - but if you don't apply, you'll never get through!

Question: Are the flexible benefits of 20% of base salary paid annually or is it a one-off when you join bp?

Paid every month, in line with salary

Question: Young people like me really care about tackling the climate crisis, and BP advertises itself as part of the solution. However, the world’s leading scientists have repeatedly made it clear that oil and gas companies must stop investing in new fossil fuel projects if we are to avoid the worst effects of climate breakdown, but BP continues to invest huge sums into fossil fuel expansion, and does not plan to stop this (for example, BP’s AND not OR campaign). How can BP expect young people interested in working in sustainability to work for it when it continues to invest in this way?

We believe the world wants and needs a better and more balanced energy system that delivers secure, affordable and lower-carbon energy (we call this the 'Energy Trilemma'). We're playing our part by investing in today's energy system, which is mainly oil and gas – and, not or – in our transition and the energy transition. And while we’re mostly in oil and gas today, we’ve increased global investment in our lower carbon, convenience stores and power trading businesses (what we call our ‘transition growth engines’) from around 3% in 2019 to around 30% in 2022. Increasing investment in these engines is a sign that bp’s wider transformation is underway. We really hope that young people who are passionate about sustainability will join bp to effect positive change in a place where you can make a real difference!