Summary
As a Project Management Apprentice at AWE, you will be given the opportunity to support an array of mission critical projects, exploring your own set of skills and discovering where your passion lies, and where your individual skillset is best suited
Wage
£23,500 a year
•A starting salary of £23,500 yearly, increasing to £25,000 in Year 2 and annually throughout your apprenticeship — subject to meeting key milestones and performance expectations.
Training course
Project manager (integrated degree) (level 6)
Hours
9 day fortnight. 33 hrs on the short week, 8hrs 15 mins per day. 41 hrs on the long week, 8hrs 15 mins per day Monday to Thursday and Fridays 8hrs. Please note hours may alter due to College training times.
37 hours a week
Start date
Tuesday 1 September 2026
Duration
4 years 4 months
Positions available
4
Work
Most of your apprenticeship is spent working. You’ll learn on the job by getting hands-on experience.
What you'll do at work
Throughout your career at AWE, you will have the chance to work in support of our core programme, on large infrastructure projects, and on a wide range of supporting programmes which enable AWE to operate and grow. You will work with a wide variety of passionate and industry leading subject matter experts, building strong relationships with teams and stakeholders.
Project Managers are required to effectively lead and manage teams, communicate clearly and concisely, solve problems effectively, prioritise multiple tasks and work to challenging timescales in difficult environments. These are skills and competencies you will develop during the Project Management Apprenticeship at AWE.
Throughout your apprenticeship, you will gain a diverse skillset and knowledge of:
• Project management methodologies and techniques to apply these
• Project lifecycle management
• Projects Structures - WBS, CBS, OBS
• Estimating, planning and scheduling
• Governance and financial control of projects
• Performance Measurement and Analysis
• Business Rhythm - Month End Reporting and Analysis
• Stakeholder and communications management, both with internal and external stakeholders
• Prioritising workload, resources and deadlines within high pressure complex environments
• Change management: to appropriately manage scope, requirements and benefits
• Quality control
• Procurement and contract management
• Risk and opportunity identification and management, and the impacts of these on schedule, cost and quality.
Where you'll work
You can select which locations you want to apply for in your application on Find an apprenticeship.
This apprenticeship is available in these locations:
* Atomic Weapons Establishment, Aldermaston, Reading, Berkshire, RG7 4PR
* University Centre Weston Training Only, Knightstone Campus, Weston Super Mare, BS23 2AL
Training
Apprenticeships include time away from working for specialist training. You’ll study to gain professional knowledge and skills.
Training provider
WESTON COLLEGE OF FURTHER AND HIGHER EDUCATION
Training course
Project manager (integrated degree) (level 6)
What you'll learn
Course contents
* Governance Frameworks: Lead and take responsibility for the project management plan as required by the governance structure. Apply techniques and project management methodologies as appropriate, dependent upon project complexity and criticality to the organisational environment in which a project is being delivered. Maintain, review and communicate a project business case for approval through the stages of a typical project lifecycle ensuring continued value for money and continued alignment with organisational objectives.
* The Business Environment: Identify and analyse the context, opportunities and challenges presented by projects in a range of organisational settings, appreciating the differences within both large and small organisations and in different industry sectors and the consequent need for tailoring. Identify the operating constraints that apply to projects including ethical, legal and regulatory considerations. This may include the green economy and the impacts of strategies for achieving net carbon zero by 2050.
* Stakeholder and communications management: Lead and take responsibility for the identification and analysis of internal and external stakeholders and their impact on the project. Manage an effective project communication plan across stakeholders with different cultural and physical barriers. Analyse information and communicate with stakeholders incorporating elements of feedback to understand and measure the effectiveness of planned communications. Effectively listen and influence others through negotiation and persuasion.
* Control of projects in terms of time, cost and quality: Manage the project within the constraints of time, cost and quality. Control expenditure and produce status reports as required, including control of costs against budgets, forecasting, and establishing performance indicators as required by funding sources. Measure progress and actual costs against plans to determine a full understanding of project performance. Identify, achieve and maintain quality standards appropriate to the context and specific requirements of project activities.
* Risk Management: Ensure that project risks, opportunities and issues are addressed using quantitative and qualitative methods to categorise risks and their impacts. Identify, evaluate and implement appropriate mitigation strategies, ensuring that mitigation actions are incorporated into the project plan and are implemented should they develop into issues. Manage risk through the regular review of a risk management plan, adopting appropriate strategies to manage both threats and opportunities.
* Commercial and Contract management: Maintain and evaluate different commercial contract and procurement types to select appropriate options for specific programmes and projects. Support effective contract management and the achievement of programme and project outcomes.
* Project Change Control: Dependent upon the size and complexity of a project, define and apply a recognised process to manage change in projects. Make effective decisions in the interests of a range of stakeholders with regards to change requests. Handle change within different project management methodologies.
* Schedule Management: Evaluate requirements and methods for data capture and analysis in a project environment. Evaluate project schedule integrity including identification and resolution of scheduling problems. Apply resource acquisition and management techniques to balance programme and project needs against resource demand. Negotiate the allocation and scheduling of internal and external resources to meet programme and project demands.
Training schedule
Working towards a Level 6 Project Manager (integrated degree) apprenticeship standard.
Requirements
Essential qualifications
GCSE in:
* 5 x inc English and Maths (grade 4 or above)
* Science (grade 5 or above)
A Level in:
3 x A levels (grade C or above)
Desirable qualifications
T Level in:
T Level (grade C or above)
BTEC in:
Extended Diploma (grade Merit or above)
Share if you have other relevant qualifications and industry experience. The apprenticeship can be adjusted to reflect what you already know.
Skills
* Communication skills
* IT skills
* Attention to detail
* Organisation skills
* Customer care skills
* Problem solving skills
* Presentation skills
* Administrative skills
* Analytical skills
* Logical
* Team working
* Initiative
* Patience
Other requirements
Candidates must be aged 18 by 1st April 2026 to ensure DV clearance is in place upon commencement of employment. •You must be a British National to apply for a role with us. Start Date: Tuesday 1st September 2026 Annual leave will not be granted from 1st September until 2nd October 2026 due to mandatory inductions you are required to complete as part of your apprenticeship. Any leave approved after this point will depend on the training provider requirements for your apprenticeship and must be agreed in advance.