What comes next
What is a degree apprenticeship - and what grades do you need?
A degree apprenticeship is a full-time job and a university degree at the same time: you are employed and paid a salary, you study part-time with a university, and your tuition fees are covered by your employer and the government - so no student loan for the degree. Grade requirements are set by each employer, but strong schemes commonly ask for A-level grades similar to good universities. They are genuinely competitive, so apply broadly and keep a parallel plan.
Last updated 29 July 2026 · Written and fact-checked by the GCSEwiz team
How they actually work
On a degree apprenticeship you split your time between a real job and university study - commonly around a day a week studying, or study gathered into blocks, with the rest spent working for your employer. It typically takes longer than a standard degree because you are working throughout, and at the end you hold a full degree plus several years of professional experience, often in schemes built around fields like engineering, digital, finance, law and management.
The finances are the headline: your employer and the government pay the tuition fees, and you earn a salary from day one. You finish with a degree, a track record, and no tuition debt - while friends on the standard route are graduating with loans and hunting for their first job. That is exactly why the next section exists.
What grades you need
Every employer sets their own requirements - there is no national bar, so the listing for each scheme is the only answer that counts for you. As a planning guide, though: good schemes commonly ask for A-level (or equivalent) grades in the range good universities ask for, sometimes with specific subjects - maths comes up often for engineering and digital schemes. GCSE requirements appear too, typically English and maths passes at minimum. Treat "check theirs" as the rule and "aim high" as the strategy: strong grades never shrink this particular pool.
The honest bit: they are very competitive
No student loan, a salary and a degree is an obvious deal, and the market has noticed: popular schemes attract far more applicants than places, and the big-name employers run selection processes closer to graduate hiring than to university admissions - online tests, assessment centres, interviews. Grades get you considered; the rest of the process decides.
That has two practical consequences. Apply broadly - several schemes, not one dream employer - and start early, because applications open in the autumn and strong schemes close when full. And run a parallel plan without embarrassment: a UCAS application alongside apprenticeship applications is the standard play, not hedging. If the apprenticeship lands, you decline the university place; if it does not, you have lost nothing. Not getting one says something about the arithmetic of places, not about you.
Where to actually find them
There is no single UCAS-style front door, which catches people out. Search the government's find-an-apprenticeship service on GOV.UK, check the careers pages of employers you would want to work for directly (many advertise only there), and look at UCAS's apprenticeship listings alongside your university research. School and college careers staff often hear about local schemes early, so tell them you are looking. Set a routine - new schemes post all year, and the good ones do not wait.