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Your guide to apprenticeships in Bristol in 2024
Bristol is a vibrant, energetic city, uniting history with the modern – all with a unique South West twist! It’s full of fresh ideas and innovative startups and is famously home to green politics and a dynamic activist community. Culture and the arts have a home in Bristol, and the city’s cafes, bars and bustling nightlife are located around the city’s exciting waterfront.
All of this makes the South West’s biggest city a great place to begin your career – and there is no shortage of apprenticeships in Bristol.
In this guide, we give you the lowdown on Bristol’s main industries and job market, as well as the main employers offering apprenticeships in Bristol.
What are Bristol’s main industries?
Bristol's three biggest industries are:
Healthcare and social work – This is a major industry across the UK, with most jobs in public sector organisations such as the NHS and local authorities, as well as private care agencies. In Bristol, about 16% of people work in this area, compared with around 13% nationally.
Career Zone links: Medicine & Healthcare, Social Care
Professional, scientific and technical – 13.8% of the population is employed in these areas of work, compared with under 10% nationwide. This group includes managers and those working in STEM professions such as engineering and computing.
Career Zone links: IT & The Internet, Science & Research
Wholesale and retail – This includes people working in customer-facing and behind-the-scenes roles in shops as well as those working in warehouses. In Bristol, about one in 10 people work in these professions.
Career Zone links: Fast Moving Consumer Goods, Retail & Merchandising, Transport & Logistics
Employers who offer apprenticeships in Bristol
Major employers offering apprenticeships in Bristol include:
Bristol City Council
Bristol City Council is the local authority for the city of Bristol. As a ‘unitary authority’, the city council is responsible for the provision of all local authority services across the city, including roads, schools, refuse and recycling, libraries and much more.
This means there are many employment opportunities within the council and lots of apprenticeships in Bristol are offered by the council. For example, at the time of writing, the council was recruiting apprentices in content creation and trading standards. The city council’s main offices are at Bristol’s City Hall.
DVSA
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is responsible for carrying out driving examinations and driving theory tests. The DVSA’s headquarters are on Croydon Street in Bristol. At the time of writing, the DVSA was recruiting a level 4 data analyst apprentice – a programme which provides many sought-after technical skills.
Nationally, the DVSA employs about 4,600 people at centres across the country – so completing an apprenticeship at the DVSA provides opportunities to work anywhere in England and Wales, as well as transferable skills applicable in other industries.
North Bristol NHS Trust
North Bristol NHS Trust provides community and hospital-based healthcare to Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset. It is a big local employer, with 8,000 staff working in medical and support roles. The Trust headquarters are at Southmead Hospital in Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol.
At the time of writing, apprenticeships were available at levels 2 to 4 in both medical and support roles, including in learning and development, cancer fast track services and genetic technology.
Mott MacDonald
Mott MacDonald is a major management, engineering and development consultancy, famous for being one of the world’s largest employee-owned companies. Its Bristol office is one of three in the South West and dozens in the UK.
As a global company, Mott MacDonald offers opportunities to travel all over the world. At the time of writing, the company was offering a level 6 degree apprenticeship in Bristol, in the field of project management.
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF), the UK’s air and space force, offers apprenticeships in Bristol at many different levels. The jobs are by no means limited to combat roles and apprenticeships offer a pathway into many professions within the RAF.
At the time of writing, the RAF was offering apprenticeships in roles such as chef, firefighter and air traffic control in Bristol. There is an RAF base at Filton, about five miles outside Bristol.
The overall jobs picture in Bristol
Bristol is booming! Between 2011 and 2021, the city’s population grew by over 10% to 472,500. According to the latest government data, median weekly earnings for full-time employees is £709, slightly above the national average of £682. The employment rate is 76.1%, a bit higher than the national average of 74.3%.
Living in Bristol
Living in Bristol is not cheap. The average cost of renting a property is £1,759 per month (April 2024), compared with the UK average of £1,262 and representing a 7.3% increase on the previous year. That doesn’t mean you’ll be paying that much, as you might house share, rent a smaller place, or live out of town when you first start your apprenticeship in Bristol. For example, renting a room averages £604 per month – while a studio apartment is £830 and a one-bed house £1,041. The average cost of buying a home for first-time buyers is £315,000.
Most of the city’s buses are run by First Bus and the cost of a single bus ticket is £1.70 for 16-21 year olds. A day ticket is £4.80 and there are weekly and monthly tickets available all the way up to an annual pass, which costs £672.80.
According to What Uni, the average cost of a meal at a cheapish restaurant is £15, and a pint of beer is £5. You can expect to pay £1.14 for an averagely priced loaf of bread and £1.11 for a litre of milk.
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Image credits: Southmead Hospital by Mojo0306, Bristol City Hall by Nilfanion – both CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
